Weld County officials holding community meeting on gas well blowout
The Chevron-owned Bishop Well is still spewing steam, natural gas and oil into the air northwest of Greeley
As Weld County residents in the area are still evacuated and a plume of natural gas, oil and water is spewing into the air, a community meeting on the Bishop Well natural gas blowout is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday night at the Galeton Fire Station #2, at 33535 Hwy 392 — about 17 miles northeast of Greeley.
Chevron-owned Bishop gas well in Weld County is still leaking natural gas after a blowout Sunday afternoon, but the Galeton Fire Protection District said that as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, all potential ignition sources near the well have been turned off and air monitoring on the well site and in the evacuation zone shows levels “below levels of concern for public health.”
Residents living within a half-mile of the well pad have been relocated for their safety, according to the district’s Facebook page.
Galeton Elementary school remains closed through at least Thursday.
The well is releasing primarily water with some oil and gas. Protection devices are deployed to help contain wellbore fluids away from ditches and waterways.
Livestock owners in the area are encouraged to contact their veterinarian to evaluate their animals, and, if they have questions or need help with relocating or boarding livestock, they can call 877-359-1285 for assistance.
Cleanup efforts to remove liquids from the site are ongoing and equipment staging to seal the well off is being moved into place.
Agencies involved included the Galeton Fire Department, Weld County emergency management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Chevron.
At about 5:50 p.m. on Sunday, the Galeton Fire Protection District was notified of an incident at an oil and gas facility south of Weld County Road 74, according to a Facebook post by Galeton fire agency.
Weld County 911 sent out an emergency alert to an area south of Galeton on Sunday night. The alert said “units are working an incident” in the area of Weld County Road 51 and Weld County Road 72. The alert encouraged people within a half mile of that intersection to “evacuate to a safe location.”
Residents are asked to refrain from ditch burning until further notice, the fire protection district said.
The Denver Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS contributed to this story.
