DENVER The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has released new draft rules to ensure taxpayers are not on the hook for abandoned oil and gas wells, but critics say the commission has failed to address the need to monitor wells into the future. Kate Christensen, oil and gas campaign coordinator for 350 Colorado, said wells are plugged with concrete, which can crack. She pointed to a plugged well in Erie that was discovered to be leaking significant amounts of toxic methane close to an elementary school. .
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. People who live on the Navajo Nation near the San Juan Basin are closely following work by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to adopt new methane rules to restrict oil and gas emissions at well sites. Kendra Pinto, community field advocate for Earthworks and a resident of the Navajo Nation, was one of several New Mexicans who testified this week when the EPA held three days of hearings to gather public input. .
SALEM, Ore. The Oregon Department of Forestry recently approved its first Climate Change and Carbon Plan, to embrace climate-smart forest management in the state. The Board of Forestry unanimously approved the plan last month. .
CHARLESTON, W.Va. Natural-gas processing plants in West Virginia and around the country will soon have to start publicly reporting the chemicals they release, according to new regulations announced by the EPA. Natural-gas processing plants release a cocktail of chemicals, including the carcinogen benzene, hydrogen sulfide, methanol, N-hexane and other compounds with known harmful effects on human health. .