A Denver-based oil and gas company was fined $3,000 on Monday for not properly reporting to the state the presence of hydrogen sulfide gas at a well site in southwest La Plata County.
According to state documents, San Marco Petroleum received its first test results in 2014 that showed hydrogen sulfide levels at its well west of Colorado Highway 140, between Kline and Redmesa, south of County Road 113. Another test in May 2016 reported 334 parts per billion in gas emissions.
On June 2, an inspector with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission discovered one of San Marco Petroleum’s wells was marked with a “H2S designation.”
However, the report indicates San Marco Petroleum violated a state mandate by not reporting to the commission or the La Plata County government that its well was releasing hydrogen sulfide, a highly toxic and flammable gas that can have substantial adverse effects to human health, depending on lengths of exposure.
The COGCC then required San Marco Petroleum to submit a written gas analyses by June 24, and issued a Notice of Alleged Violation on Sept. 15.
The COGCC commission on Monday approved the fine, as well as an order for San Marco Petroleum “to take extensive corrective actions to mitigate and prevent any issues that could arise regarding the hydrogen sulfide gas at the Well.”
John Sheridan, president of San Marco Petroleum, told The Durango Herald on Monday that the state oil and gas commission has been well-aware of the presence of hydrogen sulfide at that well site, which the company has operated for 25 years.
He said San Marco Petroleum properly filed gas analyses for that site for years, but the company was late in filing the proper forms when the oil and gas commission sent out an inspector.
“The state has always known this well has H2S,” Sheridan said. “We file reports on a monthly basis with the state of Colorado.”
COGCC staffers were preoccupied with a commission meeting Monday and unable to respond to inquiries, spokesman Todd Hartman said.
Sheridan sent The Durango Herald a form the company sent to the state dated Nov. 18, which claims the rate of hydrogen sulfide concentrations is 115 parts per million. The radius of exposure for 100 ppm is 4.48 feet and 2.05 feet for 500 ppm.
“There are no occupied residence, school, church, park, school bus stop, place of business, playground, or other areas where the public could reasonably be expected to frequent,” the report says. “The nearest public road is 3,337 feet.”
The nearest residence, San Marco Petroleum’s report shows, is 2,224 feet from the well site.
Sheridan said the well was drilled “a long time ago,” and is still capable of producing 60 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, with no oil or water byproducts. He said the company has shut in the well until the matters are resolved with the state.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
