Parachute News

The Colorado public health department says it isn't planning to fine Williams Cos.

Post Independent Photo/Kelley Cox Against the roar of Interstate 70 traffic, Jeanne Golay helps to conduct a tour of the future bike path in the South Canyon Bridge area Tuesday.

A state regulator recently acknowledged the lack of clarity over what agency, if any, regulates pipelines like the one that's the source of a natural gas liquids leak in the Parachute Creek watershed northwest of Parachute.

A drop in Garfield County's assessed valuation of anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent, depending on the type of property, may mean lower tax bills for property owners come next year.

As a former certified project planner, I was very interested in how the county was planning for our future.

Officials said that Parachute Creek is a very small tributary to the Colorado River, which is the water supply for the Clifton Water District.

A ranch owner along Parachute Creek, who also is a member of the Garfield County Energy Advisory Board , on Thursday questioned the state's classification of the creek as a "non-drinking water" source.

Real estate sales in Garfield County were down 14 percent through the first quarter of 2013 in terms of dollar volume, although the number of actual transactions was up slightly.

The contamination of Parachute Creek after an industry spill is worsening with the level of cancer-causing benzene exceeding the federal safe drinking water standard.

Experts at a meeting here on Monday night sought to give local residents a clearer picture of the science behind efforts to clean up the Parachute Creek hydrocarbon spill, which has contaminated Parachute Creek and led to fears that local water supplies for irrigation and human consumption may be threatened.

PARACHUTE, Colo. - As many as 120 people jammed into the fire house at Battlement Mesa on Monday night to hear the latest news regarding efforts to contain a large spill of benzene and other hydrocarbons along Parachute Creek.

PARACHUTE, Colorado - More than a month and a half after state regulators became aware that a large plume of natural-gas related hydrocarbons were leaking into the soil near Parachute Creek, state officials have concluded that it's time for a change in investigative authority.

Garfield County officials are planning a community meeting for local residents interested in speaking with state and federal staff about the investigation into Benzene levels in the Parachute Creek.

The responsibility of overseeing the investigation and cleanup of the natural gas liquids leak near Parachute will shift from state oil and gas regulators to health officials, authorities said this afternoon.

PARACHUTE, Colorado - The Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigations Division is contacting area residents to learn more about the contamination of Parachute Creek, according to a woman who is one of those in touch with the agency.

THE BUS: A JOURNEY UP NORTH: In the interest of creating a vehicle that's both economically and environmentally efficient, a group of friends converts its traveling school bus so it can run on waste vegetable oil.

Parachute Creek is now officially contaminated with cancer-causing benzene and heaven knows what else.

Residents in Battlement Mesa and Parachute easily recognize Floyd McDaniels' voice from his morning program on KSUN 103.9 FM, the community radio station that serves the Grand Valley area.

Representatives from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Garfield County Public Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will attend to answer questions, review each agency's role in the investigation and cleanup process, and address potential public and environmental ... (more)

Crews work at the site of a natural gas seep four miles north of Parachute, Colo., at the Parachute Creek Gas Plant on Monday, Mar.