Weld County Colorado is home to a multitude of oil, gas, and energy companies implementing fracking techniques to pull fossil fuels from the ground in rural communities. ?Weld County is also primarily under water due to the massive flooding taking place throughout this section of Colorado and reports of broken oil pipes and overrun fracking chemical pools poses an extremely dangerous situation for local residents.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process where millions of gallons of water, sand, and toxic chemicals are poured down a well hundreds of feet into the earth, fracturing the desired location, and enabling the pumping of oil and gas.
These toxic chemicals return to the surface and are pumped into holding wells until disposal. These wells and pipes in Weld County, no different than the current broken oil pipe, are being put under immense pressure due to the raging flood waters in these communities.
Companies currently engaging in fracking and resource extraction in the area include?Anadarko, Chesapeake, EnCana Natural Gas, Great Western Oil and Gas, and Noble Energy.
East Boulder County United posted pictures and callouts for help due to the amount of oil and fracking fluid wells that are both underwater, and toppling over. A leak from a fracking fluid well could release deadly toxins into flood waters, sending chemicals such as Benzene, Methane, Arsenic, Radium and a slew of dangerous metals including lead into the community, ground, and aquifers that support Weld County and surrounding areas.
A possible fracking chemical spill of this magnitude could devastate a large area of both residential and wildlife communities. Weld County resident’s cries to local authorities over fears of a possible chemical leak have been met with little to no response.
Colorado has been, and continues to be hit by devastating storms and record-breaking rain fall, causing streams and rivers to overflow, flooding Boulder and surrounding areas. Residents are being evacuated from certain communities but as Boulder resident, Will Horton, speaking with Liberal America stated,??I’ve never seen it rain like this in Colorado. It’s literally been raining nonstop for the past 3 days. The flooding is starting to get out of control.?
Will, feeling lucky to have only lost his car so far in the flood, is one of many victims to this devastating natural event. So far more than two thousand people have been evacuated from Boulder, leaving five hundred people unaccounted for, and four who lost their lives.
These areas are expected to receive more than four more inches of rain today, adding to an already desperate situation. Please stay tuned to Liberal America for ongoing updates of these unfolding events in Colorado.
Edited by Jeromie Williams?- Photos: Denver Post ?& East Boulder County United?-?Hat Tip: Texas Sharon
