EDITORIAL: Grand jury should investigate Firestone blast

May 07--As the reality sank in last week that a cut, live flow line from an oil and gas well caused a home in Firestone to explode, killing two well-known members of the tight-knit community and severely injuring a third, it became obvious again how much the state of Colorado relies on the industry to police itself.

Matt Lepore, director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said this:

"I would like to think anybody that turns on a gas line knows where it's going to go, where it ends up."

Imagine that. The man at the helm of the agency charged with regulating this dangerous industry would like to think so. Wouldn't we all.

The COGCC does not even have a comprehensive map of flow lines, let alone the manpower to inspect and test them. "We have to get better information about where those flow lines are," Lepore ventured.

Frederick-Firestone Fire Protection District Chief Ted Poszywak said the proximity of the well to the house -- about 170 feet -- was not a factor in the explosion, meaning the gas came from the flow line, not the wellhead. Still, in another sense, proximity was an obvious factor. If the house had been a mile from the wellhead, it's unlikely flow lines from the well would be anywhere near it. Flow lines carry fluids or gas between the wellhead and processing equipment generally located at or near the well site.

"My heart still hurts for the family and loved ones of those who were hurt or killed in the April 17th explosion in Firestone," said state Sen. Matt Jones of Louisville. "When you have a heavy piece of machinery extracting explosive gas near where people live or work, you have a recipe for disaster that could cause people to get hurt. As more information has come to light, it has become clearer that these oil wells, pipes, and tanks are simply too dangerous to be in close proximity to homes, businesses, and schools. We need to take steps to ensure a tragedy like this doesn't happen again."

Sen. Jones, of course, is whistling in the wind. The governor and legislature both support the state's current permissive policy allowing oil and gas operations in close proximity to homes and schools. In the Firestone case, state officials point to local regulations that allow new housing to be built even closer to existing oil and gas operations than state rules permit for new wells and existing housing. It's interesting that the state preempts local regulations when they are tougher than state rules, but not when they are more lenient than rules for new wells.

With homes, schools and oil and gas operations in such close proximity, the only way to convince ourselves that a tragedy like this can't happen again is to assume that no oil and gas operator will ever make another major mistake, that there will never be another serious accident.

But the Firestone tragedy is not a one-off. In January, a well operated by Anadarko Petroleum in Weld County blew out, spraying an estimated 28,000 gallons of oil, gas and toxic wastewater over an area the state said was 2,000 feet long by 1,000 feet wide. Given the state's current minimum setbacks for new wells of 500 feet from homes and 1,000 feet from school buildings (and less from school playgrounds between a well and school building), such a blowout in Broomfield or Erie could spray countless homes and people with toxic material.

The cut flow line in the Firestone case began at a well that's been owned by four different companies since 1993, so even if investigators could figure out when the line was cut, or by whom, they might find nobody around to take responsibility.

But what about Anadarko, the current owner? The company restarted the well Jan. 28 of this year, after it had been out of production for all of 2016, officials said.

So who at Anadarko would be responsible for testing flow lines from a well being put back into service after a long period of downtime? Who flipped that switch without testing all the lines emanating from the well? Whose job in the corporate hierarchy is to make sure all safety procedures are followed? As much as they talk about safety, it must be somebody pretty high up, right? Would failing to do that be a criminal act? What if it resulted in a house explosion and two deaths?

Is Anadarko criminally responsible for this explosion and these deaths, or does the oil and gas industry have so much political protection in Colorado that expressions of frustration by angry citizens are considered more offensive than blowing up a house and killing two people?

In Pitkin County, a grand jury brought felony negligent homicide charges against a subcontractor and former building inspector in connection with the deaths of a Denver family of four poisoned by carbon monoxide in an Aspen-area rental home in 2008. Will the Weld County District Attorney impanel a grand jury to look into the Firestone case? Or will the oil and gas industry claim state preemption, as it does so often, leaving the industry-friendly COGCC and attorney general free to turn their backs on criminal liability?

Gov. Frackenlooper swung the barn door closed with the horse out of sight, ordering a statewide review of flow lines. One day after the cause of the house explosion was announced, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association put out a statement offering "thoughts and prayers," boasting about how innovative it is, and prescribing its solution to the problem -- a new committee to study the matter.

Anadarko's stock sank after the quarterly earnings call that followed the explosion, presumably less because of the deaths than shutting down some 3,000 vertical wells and the consequent temporary loss of production and revenue. But its market capitalization is still a healthy $29 billion. Any administrative penalties or civil settlements will merely be the cost of doing business.

In a state where the oil and gas industry is given broad latitude to operate with volatile, toxic substances in close proximity to homes and schools, only a real threat of criminal liability has any chance of mitigating the natural incentive to cut corners in the name of profit. We urge the Weld County District Attorney to impanel a grand jury to investigate possible criminal charges in connection with this fatal explosion.

--Dave Krieger, for the editorial board. Email: kriegerd@dailycamera.com. Twitter: @DaveKrieger

___

(c)2017 the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.)

Visit the Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.) at www.dailycamera.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.