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<br />" <br /> <br />I-" <br />..... <br />o <br />CO <br /> <br />Amoco' has agreed to cooperate with the COGCC in a feasibility study on mitigation of the <br />seepage--regardless of the source and cause of the problem, The study will be finished by late <br />spring. <br />"The complex geology and hydrology of the Pine River area mean that there are no easy <br />answers to the problem of methane seepage," said Morris Bell, COGCC engineering manager. <br />"The members of the investigative team are to be commended for the hundreds of hours they <br />spent evaluating the most probable causes--and the most effective solution. And while <br />COGCC and Amoco have 'agreed to disagree' on the sources and causes of the seepages, <br />Amoco is stepping forward to work with us On solutions." <br />COGCC staff were alerted. to the problem of methane seepage in August 1993 by a <br />homeowner .in the subdivision who reported methane contamination of his water well. <br />Monitoring of homes in the subdivision was begun in November 1993, when the COGCC <br />received a report that a second water well in the subdivision was producing methane gas, La <br />Plata County and Amoco have cooperated siIice that time to check and monitor methane <br />concentrations in water wells and confined areas of homes. <br />At tIie same time, the COGCC formed the Pine River Investigative Team to <br />independently evaluate technical data for the area, and draw conclusions about the source of <br />the gas in the subdivision. The investigative team was composed of federal, state and county <br />organizations and other interested parties, The oil and gas industry was not represented on the <br />team. <br /> <br />People asked to participate as formal members of the team had expertise dealing with <br />issues studied by the team's four subcommittees: safety, water quality, environmental and <br />geological and reservoir engineering. <br />Team members were: area residents Tom Morgan and Les Truby; Sally Wisely, Kent <br />Hoffman, Jim Lovato and Dave Swanson, Bureau of Land Management; Bob Zahradnik, Dick <br />Baughman arid Mike Frost, Southern Ute Tribe; Josh Joswick, Warren Holland and Butch <br /> <br />- more - <br />