{"id":1316911,"date":"2019-11-22T15:57:05","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T22:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=991161"},"modified":"2019-11-22T15:57:05","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T22:57:05","slug":"colorado-approves-new-flowline-rules-after-fatal-blast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/colorado-approves-new-flowline-rules-after-fatal-blast\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado approves new flowline rules after fatal blast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
FILE – In this Feb. 28, 2019 file photo, explosion survivor Erin Martinez speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Denver. Martinez, who survived a deadly home explosion caused by a leaking and abandoned underground gas pipeline near her home, urged Colorado regulators Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019 to verify that energy firms who say they’ve complied with rules actually do so. Martinez made her plea as regulators consider new underground oil and gas pipeline safety regulation prompted by the 2017 explosion that killed her husband, her brother, injured her 11-year-old son and left her with burns covering 40% of her body. (Helen H. Richardson\/The Denver Post via AP, File)<\/strong>
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) \u2014 Colorado regulators on Thursday approved a set of safety measures designed to increase citizen protections in areas surrounding thousands of miles of underground oil and gas pipelines in the state.<\/p>\n

The rules provide public access to a more detailed and accurate state map of locations of flowlines, which are pipelines that connect an oil or gas well to other pieces of equipment.<\/p>\n

They also tighten procedures that must be followed by energy firms and their reporting requirements when they install, open, close and abandon flowlines.<\/p>\n

The rulemaking process was prompted by a 2017 home explosion in Firestone that killed two people and injured two others. Investigators blamed odorless gas seeping from a long-abandoned flowline just feet away from the home.<\/p>\n

They also found that, despite being abandoned, the line was connected to an operating well. Its existence was unknown to regulators or developers of the neighborhood where the home was built.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s decision by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission followed pleas by a survivor of the explosion that regulators verify energy firms reporting compliance with tougher safety rules are really doing so.<\/p>\n

Erin Martinez lost her husband and brother in the blast. Her 11-year-old son was injured, and she suffered severe burns and internal injuries.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s had 29 surgeries and counting, all while becoming a leading activist voice in Colorado\u2019s efforts to ensure that its multibillion-dollar fossil fuels industry operates safely and in an environmentally friendly manner.<\/p>\n

Thousands of miles of flowlines exist in Colorado, and it was an unmapped and abandoned flowline that saturated the soil near Martinez\u2019s home before the April 2017 blast.<\/p>\n

Witnesses differed over the level of detail of maps to be made available to the public, homebuilders and others, with activists arguing for fine detail and industry preferring a level of detail that ensures security.<\/p>\n

The proposals also lay out steps for taking flowlines into or out of production, including inspections with any change and ensuring the lines\u2019 structural integrity is fully tested.<\/p>\n

The rules presume that lines being permanently abandoned can be left in place with adequate documentation.<\/p>\n

Martinez questioned whether abandoned lines should be removed instead. She said she believes energy company reports on compliance with tougher rules aren\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow are you going to guarantee that they\u2019re actually going to be followed?\u201d Martinez asked.<\/p>\n

The rules adopted by commissioners call for early state notification and independent on-site inspections of flowline changes.<\/p>\n

A new law flips the state commission\u2019s mandate to emphasize public health and safety over fostering energy production.<\/p>\n

Conflicts over oil and gas have intensified as the Denver metropolitan area expands into formerly rural areas north of the city.<\/p>\n

Investigators said the flowline involved in the explosion that destroyed Martinez\u2019s home in Firestone, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Denver, likely was severed when Martinez\u2019s home was built.<\/p>\n

The line was believed to be abandoned but instead was connected to an operating well. No one knew it was leaking methane into soil just 6 feet (2 meters) from Martinez\u2019s back door, investigators said.<\/p>\n

The line and well were built years before Martinez\u2019s subdivision.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – In this Feb. 28, 2019 file photo, explosion survivor Erin Martinez speaks at a news conference at the Capitol in Denver. Martinez, who survived a deadly home explosion caused by a leaking and abandoned underground gas pipeline near her home, urged Colorado regulators Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019 to verify that energy firms who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 12:04:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}