ERIE — The hiss of natural gas through the pipes and tanks at the Wheeler G-1 well is the sound of money — and due to outdated valves, also a part of Denver’s smog problem.
Through seepage and “flash emissions,” the wells in northeastern Colorado, such as the G-1, are estimated to generate about 30 percent of the metro area’s ground-level ozone.
The region already is in violation of the federal Clean Air Act standards for ozone, and federal officials this month announced even tighter standards starting in 2010.
That has energy companies such as G-1 operator EnCana looking to stem the leaks in thousands of wells.
EnCana’s initiative is a good first step, said Jeremy Nichols, director of Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action, a nonprofit environmental organization.
“They’ve come to realize that reducing these emissions is far better for them in the long run,” Nichols said. “I think, more than anything, they’re realizing it’s good business.”
EnCana officials say they plan to spend $1.5 million on pollution controls this year.
“While we’re talking about low emissions, cumulatively it adds up,” said Scott Mason, an EnCana air-quality specialist.
EnCana — along with the two other big operators in the Denver-Julesburg basin, Noble Energy and Anadarko — is retrofitting older wells with low-emission valves at about $1,000 each to meet state and federal rules requiring a loss of no more than 25 percent fugitive emission.
The company also plans to upgrade 38 combustors, which burn off condensed gas vapor, so that 20 percent can be recovered to use on site in the process of separating natural gas from its byproducts, such as water.
Finally, EnCana is installing $4,200 solar-powered glow plugs that will replace gas-powered pilot lights used to spark the burners at 200 of its gas-collection sites.
“We want to be known as the environmental leader in this industry,” said Mason, who worked for 10 years in the state’s air-pollution-control division. “That simply comes down to minimizing your environmental footprint.”
New programs weighed
Concern over emissions was heightened earlier this month, when the Environmental Protection Agency reduced the acceptable levels of ozone in the air from 84 parts per billion to 75 parts per billion, effective in 2010.
The lower standard is prompting state air-quality officials to consider new programs, such as offering to exchange dirty lawn-mower engines for clean ones and mandatory travel restrictions for large businesses.
“There is a lot more we can do, and with oil and gas, we’ve barely scratched the surface,” said Nichols.
With the metro area already suffering from elevated levels of ozone — a respiratory irritant that forms from a mixture of sunlight, heat and the volatile organic fumes from tailpipes and smokestacks — energy companies also are in the crosshairs.
“We see the need to do our business even better, regardless of what the rules are,” said Phillip Schlagel, environmental air-quality manager for Anadarko.
Anadarko has begun using infrared cameras to detect leaks at well sites.
Noble Energy, meanwhile, is replacing 2,250 old valves and investing as much as $3 million this year in putting automated detectors on its condensation tanks, according to a letter from senior vice president Ted Brown to the Regional Air Quality Council.
Without any pollution controls, EnCana’s 900 wells in the basin would produce about 2,409 tons of volatile-organic compounds each year.
Cutting 300 more tons the goal
With better equipment in place today, the wells produce 438 tons, and the goal is to cut another 300 tons, company officials say .
“Obviously, Denver has got a problem, and we recognize that, and being members of the community, we want to do the best we can,” Mason said. “We hope it will make a difference.”
