A hiker exploring Alvey Wash in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument discovered pools of crude oil in September.
Roughly 163 barrels of oil, the equivalent to seven dump trucks, had spilled from a well 17 miles upstream. In addition to the oil, over 6,200 barrels of produced water had also spilled.
The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining has inspected Citation Oil and Gas Corp. four times for spills or incidents — all of which occurred in Summit County — since 1992. But well files show that there have been over 30 Citation oil spills in the area during Citation's operation history.
“This has been happening, unfortunately, on repeat for the past 40 years. This isn’t a one-off instance,” Landon Newell, an attorney who specializes in oil and gas issues for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance environmental group, said. “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.”
On Friday, a spokesperson for Citation told the Deseret News he was preparing an updated statement, but it would not be available until Monday.