Nurse sick after aiding gas worker
**Driller refuses to disclose chemicals that would have helped treatment
*
July 17, 2008
B*y Joe Hanel |** Herald Denver Bureau
*DENVER - A nurse at Mercy Regional Medical Center fell gravely ill from
chemical exposure after treating a sick gas-field worker in April.

Cathy Behr is back at work and recovering after she fell ill from helping a
man who showed up at the hospital soaked in unknown chemicals. The worker's
company wouldn't share information about the chemicals that could have
helped Behr's doctor diagnose and treat her injury, she said.

At the time, she was suffering from liver, heart and lung failure in Mercy's
intensive care unit.

Behr talked about her ex*perience Wednesday* with The Durango Herald, just
as state regulators are considering new rules to require companies to
disclose their chemicals.

"I didn't have the knowledge base of how risky and dangerous the chemicals
were. Now we do," Behr said.

Behr stressed that she's not angry at anyone. She wanted to share her
experience Wednesday at a hearing of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission, but commissioners decided not to allow her testimony.

Privacy rules prevent Behr from saying which chemical made her and the
worker sick, she said. The rules also prevented Mercy officials from
revealing the gas-field worker's employer.

The commission is in the middle of a multi-week hearing to rewrite the rules
on gas and oil production, and on Wednesday, commissioners considered
requiring companies to disclose to the state which chemicals they use on
their well sites.

Durango attorney Tom Dugan, on behalf of the Colorado Oil and Gas
Association, the Colorado Petroleum Association and Halliburton, argued that
Behr shouldn't be allowed to testify because commission staff added her name
to the witness list in the last few days - too late for the industry to
prepare a rebuttal. Dugan called it "classic, last-minute sand-bagging."

Commission director David Neslin said he just learned of Behr's story last
week and encouraged the nine commissioners to hear her testimony.

But the commission voted 5-4 against letting Behr testify. Local
commissioners Kimberlee Miskell Gerhardt and Tom Compton voted against
allowing Behr's testimony, saying it would have opened the door to other
groups that wanted to call last-minute witnesses. Commission chairman Harris
Sherman also voted against Behr's testimony.

La Plata County commissioners issued a statement saying they were
disappointed Behr was denied the opportunity to testify.

"We believe Ms. Behr's testimony is vital to understanding the gravity of
the public health concerns related to the disclosure of propriety chemicals
used in oil and gas drilling operations and the necessity for such
disclosure to public health officials, local hospitals and other providers
of emergency care," the statement said.

Neslin's staff has proposed wide-ranging rules based on bills backed by Gov.
Bill Ritter. It will be up to the commissioners to adopt the rules. They
took no action Wednesday and plan to vote on the rules the second week of
August.

Behr said she's not angry at the industry.

"The oil and gas industry - they didn't intend to harm me. I know that,
although they seem a little fearful of what I might say. I just want our
system to be better," she said.

The proposed rules would require companies to detail to the COGCC's staff
which chemicals they use to drill and complete a well. Well completion
involves hydraulically fracturing the rock formations that hold the gas to
let it flow easily to the surface.

*Three companies - Halliburton, Schlumberger and BJ Services - dominate the
fracing industry.

Dale Davis with Halliburton argued against the disclosure rule. Halliburton
protects its frac-fluid formula because it leads to a 20 percent to 30
percent increase in well production, he said.

If Halliburton had to disclose its formula, even only to state regulators,
the company would quit using its secret formula in Colorado, and well
production would drop, he said.

"The combination of lost tax revenue and lost jobs will have an overall
detrimental effect on the state economy," Davis said.

Fracing chemicals aren't regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water
Act, said Renee Lewis Kosnik with the Oil and Gas Accountability Project in
Durango.

"You can pump all that you want into the ground," Kosnik said.

Gas-industry critics have long complained about the composition of frac
fluids.

But representatives of Halliburton and other companies said current federal
laws are good enough. Fracing companies keep Materials Safety Data Sheets
that offer information about their chemicals. The supervisor of the sick
worker who showed up at Mercy's emergency room gave a Materials Safety Data
Sheet to the hospital's medical staff. But the sheet didn't offer enough
detailed information to be of great use, Behr said.
*
Much is still unknown about the Mercy incident, including the identity and
fate of the gas company worker. Mercy employees, including Behr, said they
can't talk about him or reveal where he worked because of privacy laws.

David Bruzzese, spokesman at Mercy, confirmed a patient contaminated with a
potentially harmful chemical was brought into the emergency room, but he
couldn't provide further information, citing a continuing investigation.

He also confirmed that a Code Orange was issued, which sets forth protocols
to be followed for potentially harmful or unknown chemical substances.

"We're still looking into the situation," he said. "I can't provide
additional information."

The state Department of Health and Environment usually doesn't keep records
on such incidents, and it has no report of Behr's injury at Mercy, said Mark
Salley, the department's spokesman.

The site of the original chemical accident isn't known. The COGCC's Neslin
said he doesn't think it happened in Colorado, and the COGCC is not
investigating. Los Pinos Fire Protection District spokesman Tom Aurnhammer
said he couldn't recall responding to a gas-field spill in April.

Jane Tabor, a spokeswoman for New Mexico's Energy, Minerals and Natural
Resources Department, said New Mexico oil regulators don't know of such an
incident. And the Bureau of Land Management's Farmington office has not
heard of any spills.

Behr still doesn't know long-term health effects of her exposure.

"Well, I guess we'll just see what happens," she said.

Meanwhile, she wants better disclosure of the chemicals.

"I just think it would be so much safer for our communities and our emer*gency
workers if we knew what chemicals are out there."

Herald Staff Writer Shane Benjamin contributed *to *this report. http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/printable_article_generation.asp?ar...

*Jennifer Goldman, Public Health & Toxics Campaign Director
Oil & Gas Accountability Project, A Program of EARTHWORKS
PO Box 7193
Bozeman, MT 59771
Phone: 406-587-4473
Fax: 406-587-3385
http://www.ogap.org