**Update**
Just heard back from Shaun Kellerby (COGCC Rifle Office). The well pad and flare stack belong to Bill Barrett Corp., local oil and gas company. Shaun said he went up there and “Everything looks fine.” He said they probably won’t close it in and they’re “just burning off gases.” It’s the usual crap from the COGCC, they won’t do anything about it because they don’t have to. And Bill Barrett doesn’t give a crap how much they pollute.
I also contacted Rick Aluise, Silt Mayor Pro-Tem, and asked if the town could intervene in any way.
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The well flaring started around 7:30 p.m. Sunday night, 8/26/12. Tod and I went out and took these photos. Obviously we don’t have the right equipment. We need a night vision video camera. We drove up to Cemetery Hill in Silt and Dry Hollow Road. On Dry Hollow Rd we parked on the flat spot above the entrance to Mineota Estates. The flare stack is less than a quarter mile up the ridge. It is approximately 100 feet high. The flame reaches heights of 50 feet or more. The sound is deafening. It roars like a freight train. And we weren’t the only ones up there observing. As we photographed, a helicopter was also circling the flame.
My apologies for the poor quality photos but I want to show them anyway.
This photo was taken from Cemetery Hill in Silt at dusk
This is a blowup of the same photo
Here is a blowup of a photo taken from Dry Hollow Road
August 28, 2012 at 6:59 am
We need eco flight to take some pictures. And we need to publish statics on the carbon being released and whether other voc’s are burned or not.
August 28, 2012 at 9:11 pm
I agree but I haven’t yet figured out how to get it done. Thanks Barb.