Groups seek answers about oil shale’s impact on water

Environmental groups Thursday demanded that companies hoping to develop Colorado’s oil shale deposits explain how much water the process could consume and how it would affect water quality and supplies.

Six green groups, citing a 2006 analysis by a Los Alamos National Laboratory researcher, said the yearly water requirements to produce oil from shale could equal the amount consumed annually by two Denver-sized cities. They also worry that using water in the mining process will leave it highly contaminated with salts.
“Colorado doesn’t have a lot of water and has to take good care of what we have,” said Elise Jones, of the Colorado Environmental Coalition. “There needs to be a full and open dialogue, especially on the Western Slope, of what’s the highest and best use of those supplies.”

Three companies are researching techniques to coax oil from underground rock in northwestern Colorado. Though it’s likely to be several years, if ever, before the oil shale is harvested on a commercial scale, greens say now is the time to get specific on water use.

Rocky Mountain News