"The spill was not reported because it was under the amount the (Environmental Protection Agency) requires," Bob Zahradnik, operations director of the Southern Ute Growth Fund, said in an interview Friday. "The tribe within the past six months changed its (spill) reporting requirements for tribally-owned or tribally-operated companies and was in the process of making it apply to outside operators. But the Tribal Council had not made the policy official."
The Tribal Council said in a news release Friday that it has ordered a full investigation into the spill and will take whatever action is necessary to correct the situation and protect members of the tribe, the public, field workers and the environment.
Also, the EPA has said it has launched an investigation.
BP spokesman Curtis Thomas said Friday that Weatherford, the company extracting gas under contract to BP, reported the incident to his company. But the news didn't reach the Southern Utes because BP was following EPA guidelines, Thomas said.
BP was operating under regulations that applied at the time, Zahradnik said. The EPA requires that spills of five barrels or more be reported, while the new tribal regulations set the limit at one barrel, or 42 gallons, he said.
The April 17 incident involved 70 gallons, Zahradnik said. Ninety percent of the spill was recovered by an inflatable basin under the barrel and didn't reach the ground. Contaminated soil was dug up and sent to a licensed disposal facility in Aztec.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission doesn't have jurisdiction over spills on Southern Ute land, and so it wasn't notified of the spill. The spill didn't become public until July when Cathy Behr, nurse at Mercy Regional Medical Center, told The Durango Herald that she became sick after treating the worker who cleaned up the spill of ZetaFlow, a liquid chemical used in the industry to increase the flow of gas.
The Herald reported Friday that the spill was on Southern Ute land south of Bayfield.
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In a news release Friday, the tribe said:
"The Southern Ute Indian Tribe is aware of the situation described in The Durango Herald article on Aug. 1. We are deeply concerned about the safety and environmental soundness of products and procedures used on our reservation.
"We are committed to responsible energy development and are prepared to enforce that policy on our reservation."
ZetaFlow is a proprietary chemical of Weatherford, a hydraulic fracturing company working on contract for BP on the Southern Ute land where the spill occurred. The makeup of the liquid is a trade secret.
The April 17 spill occurred at the Southern Ute Gas Unit AF No. 1 well, Zahradnik said. The well pad is less than 1,000 feet from the Pine River.
Behr, who removed the boots of the worker involved in the spill, said she and other nurses noticed a strong chemical smell when the worker arrived in the hospital. Behr became ill a few days later and within a week was taken to intensive care.
Medical personnel weren't able to learn the chemical makeup of ZetaFlow because of its proprietary nature. Behr began to recover when treated with steroids.
