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Did you know...
While hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been in the news in recent years, the tehnology actually was first proposed in the 1940s.
The first viable well in Colorado was drilled in 1969 near Rifle. A 43-kiloton nuclear bomb was detonated nearly 8,500 feet below the surface to develop the well. It was part of the Plowshares Program -- an effort that focused on peaceful use of nuclear energy. Modern fracking doesn't employ bombs.
Cities and counties in Colorado have attempted to ban or limit fracking, including Longmont, Fort Collins, Boulder County, and Lafayette. In 2016, the State Supreme Court ruled these bans and moratoriums violate Colorado law.
Since then, anti-fracking advocates have attempted to use the initiative process to pass a law banning fracking in the state or develop bigger setbacks from schools and homes. The ballot measure failed in 2020 and didnt get enough signatures to make it to the ballot in 2022.
A recent study found fluid injected into rocks via fracking can cause pre-existing faults to become "active" -- even if there typically isn't any measurable seismic activity . And University of Colorado researchers found fracking-related earthquake activity is increasing in both Weld County and Southern Coloado. Other studies found similar patterns in Texas and Oklahoma.
This map shows Colorado's estimated 275 "orphaned" wells, or wells abandoned by the industry which need to be cleaned and capped.
Clean up is paid for through the Orphan Well Program, a state agency funded by oil and gas operators through financial assurance, a production levy, and penalty revenues. The red x represents a clean-up in progress and the blue + represents a planned clean-up.
And the federal government also offers additional funding to states to help clean up orphaned wells. Federal wells are represented by an orange triangle.
Map courtesy of Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission