PARACHUTE —Testing of the ground water near Parachute Creek has found the carcinogenic chemical benzene some 1,400 feet downstream of a leak that has been under investigation for more than a month.
According to statements issued by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on April 12, benzene was detected that day at a concentration of 340 parts per billion (ppb) in a monitoring well on the north side of the creek, about 1,400 feet downstream from the possible source of the leak.
Three days later, on Monday, two new monitoring wells on the south side of the creek showed benzene at concentrations of 490 and 520 ppb, indicating that benzene is present in the ground on both sides of the creek, according to a COGCC report.
But newer monitoring wells further downstream did not show benzene contamination, according to the COGCC.
“This suggests the extent of impacted ground water is beginning to take shape,” said COGCC spokesman Todd Hartman in the statement.
But state and industry officials continue to report that the creek has yet to be contaminated by the plume.
