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ESCALANTE — On a clear September day, a hiker exploring Alvey Wash in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument came across a troubling discovery — pools of what appeared to be crude oil.
The hiker was looking at some of the roughly 163 barrels of oil and over 6,200 barrels of produced water that spilled from a well operated on U.S. Forest Service land nearly 17 miles upstream. For context, 163 barrels of oil would fill about seven dump trucks.
It's not the first spill reported by the operator, Citation Oil & Gas Corporation, which over the last 35 years has had over 20 spills on its facilities in the Upper Valley near the border of Grand Staircase-Escalante alone. Just last year, nearly 400 barrels of crude oil spilled from one of Citation's pipelines. And in 2014, the U.S. Forest Service reported two spills from the same company.
The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining has inspected Citation four times for spills or incidents dating back to 1992. All four were in Summit County.
However, well files from the wells on the Upper Valley oil field — located in Dixie National Forest about 9 miles southwest of Escalante — show that Citation reported over 20 spills in the area since 1988.
"This has been happening, unfortunately, on repeat for the past 40 years. This isn't a one-off instance," said Landon Newell, an attorney who specializes in oil and gas issues for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, an environmental group. "These spills are oftentimes discovered by hikers who are recreating in the area, they're not always reported by the operator, and they're not properly identified by the federal government."
A spokesperson for Citation on Friday told the Deseret News he was preparing an updated statement, though he said it would not be available until Monday.
In a report filed with the Department of Environmental Quality, Citation said its "focus since the start of this release has been to ensure that the crude oil does not migrate further downgradient and that the cleanup is being conducted as quickly and as safely as possible to remove the impacted debris and any free standing crude oil. As a result, Citation's investigation into the cause of this release is still underway."
Although the well in question is not located on the national monument, rainfall and the thousands of gallons of produced water carried the oil through Alvey Wash into Grand Staircase-Escalante. The produced water is often laden with heavy metals, oil contaminants, and has a high salinity level.
The Utah Division of Water Quality has asked for a report on the produced water that spilled. Until then, division director John Mackey says it's unclear how contaminated the water was, and what the impact on the surrounding vegetation is.
In its report, Citation writes that it is "not aware of any impacts to human health or any wildlife or domestic animals."
The Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Water Quality is currently investigating the incident, Mackey confirmed on Friday. Due to the remote location of the contamination, assessing the damage is a slow-moving process, and Mackey said it's too soon to know whether Citation will be fined.
"This will take a long time given the situation and where this contamination resides," said Mackey. "It's in a very difficult area to access."
Alvey Wash eventually empties into the Escalante River, which winds through the national monument and meets the Colorado River in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Mackey on Friday said the division has not found evidence that the oil spill reached the Escalante River.
The spill was likely the result of a valve malfunction that occurred overnight, which went unnoticed for about 14 hours, according to a report from Citation. The facility was shut in at about 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 13, the report states.
"Due to extremely remote and difficult terrain and a lack of access roads, Citation initially only tracked the release from its facility into the National Monument," reads the report. It wasn't until the following day that the company discovered the scope of the spill, which traveled 17 miles through the wash, carried by the thousands of barrels of produced water and rainfall.
"Immediate actions were taken to install barriers at various points in Alvey Wash to prevent further migration," the company said. Crews contracted by Citation are still working to clean up the spill, and the Bureau of Land Management issued a permit so the company can bring heavy machinery to the area.
Citation originally reported nearly twice as much oil spilled, with maximum estimates hovering around 360 barrels. The company later revised its estimate, based on the inventory at the well and how much oil was recovered. Those numbers could change, although Mackey said it's probably more accurate than what the division can estimate through backend sampling.
The Upper Valley is not known as a high producing area — some of Citation's wells will produce less than 400 barrels each month. In the Uintah Basin, some wells can produce more than 3,000 barrels during that same timeframe.
"There is no incentive from the operators' perspective to shut down these nominally producing wells. And that's very problematic because they've been allowed to operate in this manner now for decades," said Newell, who told the Deseret News that the cheap leasing fees let companies operate wells for years, even if their production is low.
Southern Utah is preparing for an influx of tourists coming to see the rare annular solar eclipse, slated to pass over the state on Oct. 14.
Mackey said that poses some unique challenges. Citation may have to pause cleanup if its crews cannot find lodging in Escalante, and some of the contamination is easily accessible from town.
"The contamination is pretty obvious, so it shouldn't be hard. But people should stay out of the wash and keep their pets out, for their own protection," Mackey said.
