news Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas, where it then taps into larger pipeline systems that send Colorado gas to California and the Midwest. Gas leaving Colorado for storage below Porter Ranch can take a series of in-state pipelines from both the Front Range and the Western Slope. Eventually that gas taps into the Kern River pipeline, which feeds into Aliso Canyon. Just as another cautionary tale: The Kern River pipeline ruptured in 2012, releasing 585 million cubic feet of natural gas into the air. Much of that leak was also likely Colorado-produced natural gas. That’s about 4.5 billion gallons, which is difficult to conceptualize. Think of it this way: it’s the equivalent of filling 4,500 football-field-sized swimming pools that are 10-feet deep. Just one pipeline in Eastern Colorado, the TransColorado pipeline system, can move about that much — 590 million cubic feet — natural gas through Colorado every day. And that’s not even the biggest pipeline system in the state. So you probably think that regulation of these pipelines is pretty strict. Not so. The federal government has only 100 full-time inspectors it employs from hubs nationwide. With so few feet on the ground, the federal government has no choice but to leave the day-to-day regulation of pipelines and other facilities to the states. By the numbers, about 13 percent of the nation’s total pipelines are regulated by the federal government. Colorado is one of the worst states for pipeline regulation, with only one regulator per every 7,000- to 8,000-miles of natural gas distribution mains. The responsibility of inspecting pipelines in Colorado falls to the Public Utilities Commission. In total, there are only about 500 federal and state inspectors for the 1.3 million miles of gas pipelines, according to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review investigation. This shortage of regulators has no doubt contributed to the rapidly increasing release of methane in the U.S. According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 12.8 billion cubic feet of methane has been released from pipelines across the country in more than 700 incidents since 2010; events that killed 70 people, injured 300 and cost close to $1 billion in property damage. The damages attributable to global warming caused by such leaks is incalculable. When crude or liquefied natural gas is transported by rail, the immediate perils are even greater. Though Boulder Weekly
crude oil by rail transport went down in 2015 from 2014 levels, the last several years still represent elevated rail traffic of the volatile material. Shipments of crude oil by rail peaked at 15,000 carloads per week in 2015, which is still relatively high. The regulation of crude oil transport by rail has come under major scrutiny in recent years. Inspection and regulation of oil trains is mostly done by the federal government, though states are now beginning to enact stricter laws. Currently, railroads are only required to notify local emergency personnel if a train carrying 1 million gallons or more of hazardous material comes through in its jurisdiction. But the most dangerous part about transporting crude oil by rail is the cars in which they are transported: the DOT-111s. They are outdated and not suited for the type of crude typically shipped on rails today. Last year, the federal government called for an immediate phase-out of DOT-111s, but only for the oldest varieties, and so many still-dangerous, but newer, DOT-111s will stay on the rails until 2030. But transportation is just one side of the coin regarding the safety of Colorado oil and gas in other parts of the country. As seen in Porter Ranch, there exist major problems with the enforcement of safety standards at storage facilities, as well as at abandoned wells. At any given point, there is about 3.3 trillion cubic feet in underground storage in the U.S. For reference, it would take all 1.5 million wells in the U.S. to produce at full capacity for about a week to reach that storage number. Most storage facilities, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (a government agency), are built in depleted natural gas or oil fields, as was the case at the Aliso Canyon facility in Porter Ranch. Other storage facilities, mainly in the Midwest, are built out of converted natural aquifers. These storage facilities are owned privately, usually by independent storage facility owners or pipeline companies. About 120 companies own the 400-plus storage facilities in the U.S. Any storage facility that works between states is subject to federal oversight, and intrastate facilities are regulated by the state in which they operate. These storage facilities are as prone to leaking methane and other contaminants as an active well site, pipeline or abandoned well. By virtue of being built in old drilling sites, the 400-plus storage facilSee PORTER RANCH Page 14
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