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<br />~ <br /> <br />\. <br />,1 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD <br />102 Columbine Building <br />1845 Sherman Street <br />Denver, Colorado 80203 <br /> <br />December 20, 1971 <br /> <br />~~~Q~~~~~~ <br /> <br />TO: Felix L. Sparks, Director <br /> <br />FROM: Carter Hutchinson, Water Resource Engineer IV <br /> <br />SUBJECT: White River Salinity Control - Abandoned Meeker Oil Test Well, <br />Meeker Dome, Meeker, Colorado <br /> <br />A meeting was held on December 6, 1971, at the State Board of <br />Health Office by representatives of state and federal agencies relative <br />to the above subject. The meeting was arranged by Mr. Frank Rozich and <br />chaired by Dr. Norman Evans, Water Pollution Control Division. . A list <br />of those in attendance is attached. <br /> <br />Results of the general discussion of the problems involved are <br />summarized briefly as follows: <br /> <br />1. U.S.B.R. representatives did not agree that the Meeker <br />Well was necessarily the only one causing the seepage, <br />but pointed out the fact that other capped wells in the <br />ViCinity could be contributing sources. No data was <br />produced to verify this supposition. <br /> <br />2. Mr. James McKee, State Oil and Gas Division, brought <br />out the fact that the state was not notified of U.S.B.R. <br />plans to plug the Meeker and Piceance Creek Wells in <br />1968 prior to the actual work. Notification came after <br />the work was completed. According to Mr. McKee, the <br />planning was inadequate and did not provide for the <br />large flow of water encountered nor emergency procedures <br />for plugging the well at the bottom where the artesian <br />flow apparently originates. No estimate could be made <br />as to present-day cost for replugging the well, although <br />the original bid of about $53,000 was considered as a <br />minimum figure, plus the cost of 1,800 feet of casing, <br />plus current drilling and engineering costs. <br /> <br />~ <br />o <br />G~ <br /> <br />3. Mr. Marcus Cooley, U.S.B.R., explained the salinity <br />control program initiated by the Bureau as of October <br />1971. This is an organization resulting from a previous <br />cooperative arrangement between the Bureau and the EPA, <br />which was apparently working very well. Under the new <br />program, many organizational and legal problems prevail. <br />