The reflection of a gas drilling rig in a mud puddle near Parachute Creek on a rainy Saturday, April 9, 2011. Brent Gardner-Smith photo.
Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Journalism
The state’s Water Quality Control Division says a division of Williams natural gas company failed to take measures at a gas field construction site to keep dirt and mud from running down steep hills into a tributary of Parachute Creek, which flows into the Colorado River in Parachute.
On Nov. 1, 2010, state inspectors witnessed “erosion and sediment discharge from the disturbed area” of a Williams construction site on the Roan Plateau in Garfield County.
They found Williams “failed to prepare and maintain a complete and accurate stormwater management plan for the project.” The project included building a road and installing a gas pipeline.
Such a plan is required, state inspectors said, “to identify all potential sources of pollution” that could affect stormwater runoff and select “best management practices” to address them.
They found Williams failed to adequately build water bars or did not properly place hay bales and straw waddles to effectively absorb sediment flowing in the muddy water running from the site.
“What was concerning to the department primarily with this project is there were a lot of disturbed areas where the dirt had been up torn up with heavy equipment,” said Scott Klarich, manager of the state’s Water Quality Control Division’s enforcement unit, but Williams failed to take steps to prevent runoff or conduct required inspections after snow and rainstorms.
