Colorado

Oil and gas spills and releases

Agency Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission

At Colorado oil and gas sites, spills and releases are overseen by the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC). ECMC defines a spill/release as any unauthorized discharge of exploration and production (E&P) waste to the environment, such as crude oil, condensate, produced water, flowback water or drill cuttings. When produced fluids are spilled and reach soil or water, the environmental protection specialists of ECMC's Environmental Unit oversee the investigation and cleanup directly.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name state spill lists among its standard record sources. The federal counterpart of a state spill list is the emergency response record described on the ERNS page. Five details shape the search in Colorado.

Which agency depends on where the spill was. ECMC's guide to the state agencies at an oil and gas site sends a spill seen or suspected on an oil and gas site to ECMC, a spill at a gas station or at storage tanks away from oil and gas production sites to the Division of Oil and Public Safety, and a truck spill to the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division. So check the agency that fits each use on and near the property: the Environmental spill and release reporting page covers the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's reporting line and spill files, and Petroleum release events covers the Division of Oil and Public Safety's.
The operator's forms make the record. ECMC says an operator documents its work on a spill on forms that include the Form 19 Spill/Release Report, the Form 27 Site Investigation and Remediation Workplan, the Form 15 Earthen Pit Permit, the Form 22 Accident Report and the Form 23 Well Control Report. Once ECMC approves the operator's initial Form 19, it assigns a unique Facility ID to track the spill response and cleanup records. Ask for the Form 27 and the records that closed the case.
Active and closed describe the paperwork. ECMC says the status on a Form 19 is the status of the form, and does not say whether a spill is still discharging. Active means the spill/release facility ID has been reported and the operator has yet to demonstrate a successful cleanup. Closed means the spill/release or remediation project has demonstrated compliance with ECMC's cleanup standards and procedures.
Containment is an early question. ECMC says production facilities are built with secondary containment around potential sources of contamination, and that among its first questions about a spill are whether it happened inside containment, what was released, how much, and whether it was contained. Put the same questions to the file.
The rules behind the record. ECMC says its 900 Series rules apply to the management of E&P waste and environmental impacts, and its 600 Series rules govern safe operations. The Form 19 page links instructions titled Rule 912B Reporting Spills or Releases of E&P Waste, Gas, or Produced Fluids, revised January 28, 2021, which this handbook did not open.

ECMC says it posts spill and remediation data on COGIS after review by its remediation inspectors, generally within 72 hours of receipt.

Where to look a site up

The spills tab of ECMC's Daily Activity Dashboard shows spills as operators report them on the Form 19, with their Facility IDs. ECMC's environmental page says the dashboard provides information about all known spills.
The COGIS Database page links the Inspection/Incident inquiry. ECMC's Help Document for Searching Spill/Release and Remediation Information page, dated September 11, 2020, links a tutorial on searching for spill/release and remediation project information, which this handbook did not open.
In the scanned archive opened from the Imaged Documents page, the indexing guide on the Imaged-Document Search Tool page files Form 19 reports and other spill/release documents under the spill/release point ID, and Form 27 workplans and remediation project documents under the remediation number.
ECMC's inspection type codes include ES, Environmental Issue or Spill, and ER, Emergency Response, which can help when reading a site's inspection history.
A well's own papers are found as the Oil and gas well records page describes. ECMC's main number is (303) 894-2100.

Getting the file

ECMC's Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) page says the Act allows any member of the public to request agency records unless they are excepted by law, and links an online form for filing a CORA request. The page read gives no fee and no response time.

Sources

Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission pages, read October 17, 2026, no modified date shown except where one is given: