Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Tracking Colorado's methane super-emitters
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Tuesday, October 24, 2023
An oil pipeline pumping station in northeastern Colorado, Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])
Recently-abandoned oil and gas wells in Adams County, Colorado are emitting one thousand times more methane than older orphaned wells. Colorado State University researchers measured methane emissions from 108 plugged wells and 226 abandoned but unplugged wells across the state, the Colorado Sun reports ([link removed]) . The fully plugged wells weren't leaking methane—even ones that were plugged as far back as 1906.
Oil wells that had recently stopped production but weren't fully plugged, also known as "shut-in" wells, were the biggest emitters—releasing 3,640 grams of methane per hour, compared to 3.6 grams per hour for other non-producing orphan wells.
The methane pollution from these wells highlights the risks of not requiring oil and gas companies to post sufficient bonds to cover their cleanup costs.
“Shut-in wells are a potentially big risk, for they aren’t plugged and they aren’t serviced,” said CSU researcher Stuart Riddick. “In some cases, these wells were not abandoned because they were played out, but because the owner ran into operating problems or went bankrupt.”
The Sun reports ([link removed]) that the situation in Adams County was exacerbated after a broken gathering line caused a home explosion in 2017, killing two people. Anadarko Petroleum then shut down its aging network of natural gas collection pipelines. Of the 298 orphan wells in Adams County, three quarters of them were on the Anadarko pipeline network.
Swimming upstream
Improving passage and connectivity for fish and other aquatic and terrestrial species is crucial to ensuring Western fish and wildlife can survive and thrive ([link removed]) . While the solution is often as straightforward as replacing culverts with fish-friendly structures, funding for these projects can be hard to come by. Fortunately, Congress has made several recent investments in fish passage programs. In a new blog post ([link removed]) , Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby highlights where some of these dollars are beginning to hit the ground in Western states.
** Quick hits
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Climate change pushes the Sonoran desert to the brink
Yale Climate Connections (http://[Death of desert giant]([link removed]))
Western Wyoming's big buck country sees slowest hunt in 30 years
WyoFile ([link removed])
Meet the biologist working to save a fish that's only found in Wyoming
Wyoming Public Media ([link removed])
Conservation cuts sink in as 2023 farm bill looms
E&E News ([link removed])
Editorial: Add Molok Luyuk to Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument
Press-Enterprise ([link removed])
Prehistoric fish fossil unearthed at Zion National Park
St. George News ([link removed])
Biden Arctic road map focuses on climate, geopolitics
E&E News ([link removed]) | White House Fact Sheet ([link removed])
Seattle adventurer uncovers the hidden history of national park posters
Seattle Times ([link removed])
** Quote of the day
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”
Every night you could just hear crying. First, it would start really slow, and then pretty soon you could hear the whole dorm crying, girls saying they want to go home. It just took one year to take my language, take our identity, take who we were away from us—everything.”
—Alaska Native boarding school survivor Robin Cherry, KTUU ([link removed])
** Picture This
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@nationalparkservice ([link removed])
In the spirit of the season, we offer this year’s most popular park-inspired costume ideas. (Non-scientific analysis.)
Has a national park ever inspired your costume?
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