While calling the behavior of oil and gas operator K.P. Kauffman “disreputable,” “recalcitrant” and “negligent,” state oil and gas regulators balked at issuing a broad order to plug marginal wells in two Weld County towns.
The town of Frederick and its neighbor Dacono sought to use a revised provision in state oil and gas rules to have the Energy and Carbon Management Commission order the company, known as KPK, to plug and abandon 42 wells.
While declining to issue an order for all the wells, the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission ordered KPK to plug and abandon two wells in Frederick and one in Dacono within the next 12 months…