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Bishop Well Release

 
Site Contact:
Taylor Bowker
Federal On-Scene Coordinator

(bowker.taylor@epa.gov)

Site Location:
Galeton, CO 80615
 scribenet.response.epa.gov/BishopWell
NRC#: 1427912

Current Status:

Current remedial actions are being conducted by Chevron in coordination with local and state agencies. The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) now has regulatory oversight of this release and estimates remedial completion by Spring of 2030. 

  • Additional information and updates from ECMC can be found on their webpage at ECMC Library. 

 

Background:

On Sunday, April 6, 2025, EPA Region 8 received NRC notification of an uncontrolled discharge from the Bishop A18­742 oil well. U.S. EPA Region 8 deployed a Federal On­-Scene Coordinator and two support contractors. EPA staff and contractors arrived on Site on April 7, 2025, to provide technical direction, assessment, stakeholder coordination, and direction/oversight of the cleanup operations. 

Initial assessment confirmed an active release from the well located in the unincorporated community of Galeton approximately seven miles Northeast of the city of Greeley, Colorado. The release from the well resulted in an unknown quantity of oil discharging into Willow Creek and the Greeley 2 Canal. Incident Command System was implemented and included the state, county, and federal agencies including the Galeton Fire District, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC), Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), and Weld County. 

An evacuation radius of 0.5 miles from the well was implemented affecting nearby residents. The Galeton Elementary School was also closed until further monitoring and decontamination could be conducted. Immediate response actions were taken by Chevron, as part of unified command, to prevent further discharge in and throughout the creek. A specialized well control team successfully stopped the release from the well the afternoon of Thursday, April 10. 

Air monitoring was conducted throughout the response from Chevron contractors and CDPHE. Surface water samples were collected throughout Willow Creek daily and sorbent material was replaced as necessary.

 

Additional information from Weld County can be found on their webpage at Bishop Well Incident.

Additional information from Chevron can be found on their webpage at bishop well incident — Colorado.chevron.com. 


Sorbent boom located downstream in Willow Creek as of 4/7/2025. Code4 Security Detail at Galeton Fire Station No. 2, designated as the incident comment center. View of the affected well actively releasing seen from the Incident Command Post (ICP) at Galeton Fire Station No. 2 off of County Road 74. Affected well is approximately 2.5 miles from the ICP. View of the affected well from County Road 72 on the morning of April 8, 2025. Responsibly Party (RP) contractors assess potential sampling locations based on visual observations of sheens. The Greeley Number 2 Canal south of affected well off of county road 51. Downstream Highway 392 Surface Water Sampling location. CTEH (RP contractor) assessing Lone Tree Creek south of where Lone Tree and Willow Creek merge. EPA START contractor and RP contractor sampling. EPA START performing at least 10% split sampling efforts. Photo of Sample BWR01SW20250408 at Location 01 downstream in Lone Tree Creek. Boom placed in Willow Creek near where the surface water sampling location 04. Photo taken from the bridge on County Road 70. Photo of where sample BWR04SW20250408 and BWR04SW20250408DU was taken (Location 04). Product observed in Willow Creek in the confluence. Product observed within the boom area. Boom placed along Willow Creek. Surface water sample collected by CTEH and Tetra Tech START (location 04). Boom deployed at the confluence of Willow Creek and The Greeley Number 2 Canal in southwest corner of cold zone. North side of Willow Creek head gate shows spend sorbent pads and boom. Bishop Well spraying in the air. Photo taken from the southwest corner of the cold zone. South side of Willow Creek head gate shows evidence of spent boom and sorbent pads. Product and sheen visible at the confluence of Willow Creek and The Greeley Number 2 Canal. Boom surrounding overflow area and ditch from sump in the southwest corner of the cold zone at the confluence of Willow Creek and The Greeley Number 2 Canal. Confluence of Willow Creek and The Greeley Number 2 Canal in southwest corner of the cold zone. Decontamination staging area of heavy equipment near the affected well. Sheen also visible in the stream. Set up for the press conference and community meeting at the Galeton Fire Station Number 2. View from the ICP on April 10, 2025 at 16:00. The initial containment operation was successful. Operations will be continuing to replace the wellhead to fully secure it. Overview of the sump pond with diversion ditch from well pad. Sump pond is actively being pumped to remove contents for disposal offsite. Pump truck on standby along Willow Creek and County Road 70. Boom staged off of County Road 70 on an unmarked road adjacent to Willow Creek. EPA OnScene Coordinators assessing for weathered oil along Willow Creek. EPA On Scene Coordinator assessing murky areas to confirm presence of released product. Stick used to see if pooled muck behaves like oil or biological material. View of boom along Willow Creek to County Road 70 bridge. Suspected product pooled within the boom barrier in Willow Creek. Area along Willow Creek between the head gate and County Road 70. Strong petroleum odors were observed. PID readings approximately 70 parts per billion (ppb) and slightly windy. Biological sample of bugs, fish, water, sediment and potentially algae performed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife just downstream of the head gate. Overview of headgate from the unmarked road off of County Road 70 adjacent to Willow Creek. Operations area near the head gate outside the well pad. Access to the well pad done by crossing Willow Creek/Irrigation Canal in the dry areas while main access not available. EPA On Scene Coordinator assessing the upstream of the head gate. Strong odors were observed and PID readings reached 360 parts per billion (ppb) that were not sustained. Badger truck transferring released material into sump to move into fracking tank for disposal. EPA at the community meeting discussing the loss of containment with residents. EPA discussing the loss of containment with residents. Galeton Fire Chief briefs the press and community on the loss of containment on April 10, 2025. Community meeting at the Galeton Fire Department No. 2 on April 10, 2025. Tables set up for residents to discuss the loss of containment with local, State, and Federal Agencies. View of the well pad at the intersection of County Road 51 and County Road 72. Oily road conditions can be seen just outside the well pad. Recovery operations just upstream of headgate. View of the headgate (left) within Willow Creek. Bishop House (residential home) seen in the distance. Natual culvert access to Willow creek under the road. Culvert entrance to Willow creek dry and contains boom. Chevron and EPA perform a site walk around and to the well pad to perform an assessment after wellhead was contained and secured. Diversion ditch along Willow Creek from well pad area to the sump pond. Residual product in ditch made for diversion during active release. Badger trucks used to pump pooling product into the sump pond for temporary containment until final disposal. Pooled material on front of the entrance into the diversion ditch. An additional ditched was connected to a preexisting ditch to route the spilled material into a sump pond to avoid continued release into Willow Creek. The additional ditch was made after the loss of containment occurred. Pooled oil on the fracking operations area flowing onto adjacent to agriculture property. Pooling outside of the ditch used to divert oil into sump area. Minimal erosion observed. Photo taken on 4/11/2025. Culvert connecting from an irrigation ditch from County Road 51 into a second ditch around the well pad. Overview of air sampling station ENE C2206. Sample station includes a 6L SiloniteXL summa canisters for VOC sample collection to be analyzed by EPA Method TO15. Samples collected and set up by CTEH. Spilled oil pooled just outside the well pad. Close up view of the pooled oil outside the well pad area on the SW side. Visible yellow staining from the pool level during the active release. Overview of the wellhead area inside well pad . View of the well heads in the well pad. The blue well head seen to the right of the frac stack (sometimes called Christmas tree) was the wellhead that had the loss of containment. View of inside the side the well mat area. The harpoon tank that holds the fracking water seen on the right in the large blue tank. Fracking lines that connect to the harpoon tank holding the fracking water used in normal operations. Tanks used for making the 16-pound used in the dynamic kill operations. Tank continually mixes the mud keep from separating. Close up view of air monitoring and air sampling stations set up by RP contractor CTEH. Air monitoring and sampling for hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds (general and compound specific), carbon monoxide, oxygen levels, and lower explosive limits. First emergency pit (sump) in process of draining. A new lined sump will be made for containment. The new sump was completed sometime within 13:0014:00 on 4/13/2025. The new sump was lined with a drainage ditch liner. Overview of the pooling oil located on the N/NW side of the well pad on 4/13/2025. View of the diversion ditch going into the new lined sump. Site walk along Willow Creek with Chevron, Chevron contractors, ECMC, and Weld County to determine agency concerns that will need to be addressed during ongoing remedial efforts. Ambipar contractor continues to pump downstream on Willow Creek on 4/13/25 near County Road 70. Pump used for recovery in Willow Creek includes filter to keep larger debris out and pump liquids only. Polaris subcontracted by CTEH (RP primary technical contractor) agitates debris and boom along Willow Creek to identify sheen in creek bed and vegetation. Water truck supporting dust control on unmarked road along Willow Creek. Sheen found downstream in Willow Creek on 4/13/2025. Boom bagged along willow creek to be disposed of off site. Adsorbent pom poms used for sheen collection. Rainbow sheen observed further upstream in Willow Creek. Entrance point where oil and fracking water entered Willow Creek from the well pad. Location upstream of the headgate. Assessing for sheen and product pooling upstream of the oil entrance point and headgate in Willow Creek.. Oil settling in pockets upstream of the headgate in Willow Creek. Rainbow sheen seen at headgate area in Willow Creek. Bypass pump installed downstream of headgate. Installed to prepare for clean water availability for irrigation ditch. Water sourced from an upstream location not affected by the release. Bypass pump installed downstream of headgate. Installed to prepare for clean water availability for irrigation ditch. Water sourced from an upstream location not affected by the release. Gross decontamination staging area (stage one) for equipment coming out of the work area around the well pad. Additional decontamination steps at other staging locations are performed after stage one. VOC instantaneous readings on the PID just above sump but below breathing zone. Highest observed 980 ppb which was not sustained for VOC. VOC readings varied and windy conditions created sporadic readings. Strong odors were also observed but not consistent. VOC instantaneous readings on the PID downwind of the sump but below breathing zone. Highest observed 1630 ppb which was not sustained for VOC. VOC readings varied and windy conditions created sporadic readings. Strong odors were also observed but not consistent. Irrigation drainage with culvert blocked. Drainage leads to Willow Creek. Soil stained with oil was observed. Strong petroleum odors were observed, and VOC instantaneous readings reached 1630 ppb but not sustained. Time weighted averages should be used t Upstream in Willow Creek where water is being bypassed to downstream of the headgate further down into Willow Creek. Visible oil in the emergency diversion ditch entrance into existing stormwater ditch on the west side of the well pad. Photo taken on 4/13/2025. Erosion into agriculture land as of 4/13/2025. Willow Creek approximately 550 feet west of the erosion path. Close of view of the erosion depth. Depth approximately one foot deep as of 4/13/2025. Trailer and tent set up for office hours on April 14, 2025. Residents and landowners will be able to ask questions with Chevron and Chevron Public Information Officers. Incident Command Post located in the Galeton Fire Department Station No. 1. Responsible Party (RP), RP contractors, EPA, EPA contractors, and Fire Chief discuss status of the active well.