Toxic Ponds Back in the News

The state has embarked upon a study to understand what exactly is being spewed in the air from oil and gas wastewater evaporation ponds in western Colorado. One of those ponds is the Black Mountain disposal facility in DeBeque, which was cited for violating clean air laws earlier this year.

Oil and gas wastewater ponds like Black Mountain are falling under intense scrutiny in Colorado because of their air pollution. The main purpose of these ponds is to accept volatile waste liquids from oil and gas production facilities and let them evaporate into the air. The trouble is, this stuff is toxic when it's a liquid and toxic when it evaporates. When these ponds are gigantic, covering several acres or more, that creates a huge public health threat.

That, and under Colorado air quality laws, it's illegal to let this stuff evaporate without using any pollution controls. In fact, Rocky Mountain Clean Air Action and several other groups called on the state of Colorado earlier this year to regin in these toxic ponds.

We know that some nasty stuff is being released at these ponds, but the state's study should give us an idea exactly what is being released, how much, and whether that's too much. It looks like we're on track to finally clean these things up.