Gas company fined record $374,000, Colorado Interstate Gas penalized for Fort Morgan leak

Gas company fined record $374,000, Colorado Interstate Gas penalized for Fort Morgan leak by Gargi Chakrabarty, February 6, 2008, RockyMountainNews
State regulators have slapped a record $374,000 penalty on Colorado Interstate Gas Co. for a natural gas leak near Fort Morgan that forced more than a dozen families out of their homes for a week and contaminated drinking-water wells. … “The incident involved a significant risk to public safety,” the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission stated in its Jan. 15 order. “The incident involved a significant waste of gas resources. The incident resulted in significant loss or damage to public or private property.” The commission estimated that the incident released up to 700 million cubic feet of gas in the air, worth about $4 million. … The commission’s previous record penalty of $371,000 was imposed on EnCana Oil and Gas (USA) in August 2004 for a seep from a faulty gas well near Silt that contaminated a creek and several water wells. … Besides plugging the leaking well, CIG put up 13 families in hotels for a week and bought two homes as part of a damage settlement. … Morgan County Sheriff James Crone described the scene at the leak as similar to the movie Tremors – with gas fissures, like limbs of a giant creature, breaking out of the ground at several spots over hours. He said the gas came out in such force that it damaged a county road and the foundation of a home.