What’s stalling state’s oilfield disaster plan?

When floodwaters rushed down the canyons of the Front Range the week of Sept. 9, 2013, few understood how far-reaching the damage would be. Almost immediately though, even before the rains ended, images of oil spills and inundated production facilities started appearing on television and on the front pages of our newspapers.

Multi-billion-dollar corporations such as Noble Energy and Encana Corp. had to cease operating hundreds of wells in order to deal with stranded drilling platforms and tank batteries swept from their foundations.

More than 48,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled and some 2,700 oil and gas wells suspended operations. Compared with other disasters in oil fields, such as Hurricane Katrina, this was a fairly small event.

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But our communities, already dealing with impassable roads and inoperable sewage and drinking water systems, were outraged to see oil spills added to the list of injuries they were enduring.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, according to its own report, was caught flat-flooted, unused to dealing with environmental destruction as widespread as that which unfolded during that unforgettable week.

In fairness to the state, it’s understandable that a regulatory body was unprepared to deal with a natural disaster. Most regulators aren’t trained in emergency response. After the fact, the agency acknowledged its lack of preparedness and vowed to correct its deficiencies.

But this month, six months after the initial report was issued in March, COGCC has done little if anything to craft an emergency response plan, establish regular contacts with first-response agencies with whom they must coordinate when oil fields are at risk, or conduct emergency-response training for its staff.

Oil companies have worked hard to flood-proof their operations, installing automatic “stop” mechanisms to shut down oil and gas platforms during emergencies, among other measures.

But the state has done little to improve its own preparedness and its ability to react effectively the next time around. That state regulators have done so little is disappointing at best.