Angelika Albaladejo joined Denver7 in January 2023 as part of the Scripps News Journalism Journey Initiative aimed at bringing print journalists into the world of TV news.
AURORA, Colo. — An oil and gas company plans to frack near a Superfund site east of Aurora, raising concerns among residents, environmental agencies and lawmakers that drilling could release hazardous chemicals.
“There's 138 million gallons of toxic waste in the site in open pits," Rader said. That includes more than 100 different chemicals dumped into the ground between the 1960s and the 1980s by companies like Coors, Conoco and Hewlett-Packard. But instead of removing the toxic chemicals, Rader said the EPA invested millions of dollars into containing the hazardous materials underground. The pits are unlined, meaning there is no barrier to stop the chemicals from sinking deeper into the ground and potentially making their way into aquifers.
Civitas told Denver7 it has continued to work over the last year with the EPA and other agencies involved with the Superfund site, including Colorado’s Department of Public Health and the Environment , the City and County of Denver and Waste Management. That's been true with many induced earthquakes in Colorado, starting with the Denver Earthquakes caused when the Rocky Mountain Arsenal injected toxic waste into the ground.More recently, oil and gas operations have caused earthquakes in Greeley and southern Colorado near the Raton Basin beginning in the 2010s.Rubinstein explained that the highest risk of induced earthquakes is connected to injecting wastewater into the ground over a long period of time rather than short-term fracking.
Civitas told Denver7 it “is not proposing nor have we proposed any injection wells,” given the heightened risk of induced earthquakes linked to wastewater injection. Still, whether or not the faults in the area are prone to shifting and causing earthquakes is “not really something we can predict,” Rubinstein said.
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