Orphaned Oil And Gas Equipment Must Be Plugged Or Cleaned Up, Says Colorado Executive Order

Governor John Hickenlooper signed an executive order this week, requiring that abandoned oil and gas equipment be plugged up or removed. Rae Ellen Bichell from KUNC has more.

The move comes a little more than a year after an old, leaking natural gas pipeline caused a home to explode in Firestone, killing two people. According to the order, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has five years to plug high-priority sites, and will publish a list of known sites by August 1. That list will be updated each year. The Colorado Petroleum Council said it “welcomes” the Governor’s directive and “looks forward” to implementing the regulatory changes.