What Happened?
On 4/6/2025 a well control incident occurred at the Noble/Chevron Bishop A07-01 pad. The ECMC-issued location ID is 483510 (Well API# 05-123-52071). There was a failure of the designed well barriers and a loss of control over the pressure within the wellbore, resulting in an uncontrolled flow — called a blowout — of fluids. During the blowout, wellbore fluids and fluids native to the formation, such as condensate and crude oil, emitted.
The Unified Incident Command team, composed of Weld County first responders, Galeton Fire Protection, Chevron, and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), oversaw the initial emergency response to the incident. Contractors working for Chevron successfully stopped fluid flow from the well on 4/10/2025. On 4/11/2025 the response team declared the well control incident successfully secured; secure is defined as a confidence in the containment.
The declaration returns the location (483510), Bishop well, and the spill of exploration and production waste to the jurisdiction of the Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) in accordance with the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Act. ECMC is the agency with statutory authority to regulate oil and gas operations, including the investigation and clean up of any oil and gas spill.
Situation Updates
On 5/1/2025 ECMC approved the initial Investigation/Remediation Workplan (Form 27). The Workplan is posted on the spill incident scout card (click docs → search for document #404175397 dated 5/1/2025). ECMC requires operators to submit an Investigation/Remediation Workplan for any spill or release of waste for which cleanups and remediation is anticipated to take longer than 90 days.
Contact an ECMC liaison at dnr_ecmc_communityliaison@state.co.us if you seek assistance understanding the data presented in this 9-page document. In summary, the Workplan describes the ways in which impacts from the incident will be remediated and how the remediation will be monitored and validated. The impacts are described the Analytic of Source Material documentation (view document #2358839, posted 4/25/2025). Additional documentation of impacts and sampling data is also posted in the scout card.
Attached to the Form 27 Workplan are four separate Sampling and Analysis Plans (SAPs). A SAP is a detailed document outlining the procedures for collecting and analyzing samples. The SAPs that were submitted and approved by ECMC’s subject matter experts with this Form 27 are for groundwater monitoring well sampling, water well sampling, environmental sampling (soil and surface waters), and confirmation wipe sampling (structures). In addition to the SAPs, the Form 27 includes a Soil Sampling Locations Plan that ECMC subject matter experts approved. It lays out the strategy for where samples will be collected.
Additionally, ECMC included several Conditions of Approval (COAs) to the Form 27. COAs are specific requirements and restrictions placed on projects to ensure compliance with regulations and protect public health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife resources. Moving forward, Chevron must use ECMC’s supplemental Form 27s to submit all laboratory results, including sample location maps and analytical summary tables, within seven days upon receipt.
The Workplan also discloses that as of 4/25/2025, Chevron disposed of 7,194 cubic yards of impacted soils and 89,013 barrels of recovered liquids.
Note: the workplan does not include an Agronomic Sampling and Analysis Plan (ASAP). It is under development and is due to be submitted by Chevron to the ECMC by May 8, 2025.
Please read previous updates about the Bishop well incident for more information.
Today ECMC issued a Notice to Operators (NTO) regarding pressure management safety. As a regulatory authority, ECMC uses NTOs to communicate timely and important information to operators and may require certain action be taken as necessary and as part of ECMC’s regulatory program.
This NTO requires operators to conduct an assessment of their processes and wellhead procedures during the time period between drilling rig release and start of production and to report that assessment to ECMC. The goal of the NTO is to ensure proper application of technical, operational, and organizational processes, specifications, and solutions to reduce risk to health, safety, wildlife and the environment during pivotal times in the development of a well. The NTO reflects ECMC’s mission to regulate the development and production of oil and gas in a manner that protects public health, safety, welfare, the environment, and wildlife resources.
ECMC issued the NTO out of an abundance of caution and in light of initial findings from ECMC’s investigation into the Bishop incident, however no final determination of the cause of the incident has yet to be determined. ECMC will continue to investigate, in collaboration with the operator and other regulatory agencies, the cause of this incident. As more specific information becomes available, ECMC will take additional action as necessary to protect public health and safety.
Yesterday (4/24/25) ECMC posted Chevron's ‘Analytical of Source Material’ documentation (view document #2358839). The document includes the test results of oil samples taken on 4/8/25. The samples were taken from two locations near the source of the spill: one sample was taken from the pad of the incident and one from an emergency diversion ditch adjacent to the pad.
Contact an ECMC liaison at dnr_ecmc_communityliaison@state.co.us if you seek assistance understanding the data presented in this 83-page document. In summary, the laboratory analysis identified multiple petroleum hydrocarbon compounds and the presence of certain metals that commonly occur in crude oil. The petroleum hydrocarbon compounds with health based clean up standards are listed in ECMC Table 915-1 and those contaminants of concern drive the remediation approach. You can view Table 915-1 on page 42 of the 900 series. Generally, crude oil is a mixture of multiple organic compounds and sometimes traces of metals. This mixture varies between oil and gas basins and even may be variable between oil wells completed within the same oil and gas basin.
Additionally, ECMC anticipates receiving the Form 27 (site investigation and remediation workplan) from Chevron by end of day today, 4/25/25. It will describe the volume of released fluid - aka fluid emitted during the blowout prior to containment - and the volume of recovered fluid. Fluid has been and continues to be recovered by a variety of mechanisms, such as temporary collection pits and ditches dug adjacent to the incident.
ECMC approved Chevron’s Environmental Sampling and Analysis Plan (ESAP). View the ESAP for the Bishop spill (ID# 489797) via the spill/ release scout card. Click "docs" (above the yellow bar) and download the files dated 4/17/25.
An ESAP is a scientific and technical plan for the collection and chemical analysis of environmental samples for surface water, groundwater, and soil sampling prepared specific to this incident.
The Bishop ESAP plan specifies analytical parameters and methods, timing and frequency of sampling, and applicable quality control provisions. ECMC staff determined that the Bishop ESAP meets the requirements of ECMC’s protective regulations as outlined in the 900 and 600 Series Rules. The ESAP includes a collection of baseline samples to enable us to distinguish between naturally occurring substances and impacts from the incident.
The implementation of the ESAP helps ensure that the soil and groundwater impacted by this incident are properly cleaned up to appropriate regulatory standards. The ESAP will be in effect until compliance is met: ECMC has no timeline estimation at this time.
Specific sample location sites will be determined from field observations and the sampling protocols will follow objectives of the plan. ECMC inspectors also take independent samples to verify the data submitted via the ESAP. The data required in the ESAP supplements the initial testing/data that occurred during the emergency response phase.
Chevron provided the first drafted ESAP to ECMC on 4/10/25. ECMC’s experts approved the plan on 4/17/25 after Chevron provided additional information in the ESAP.
If you are having trouble downloading documents or using COGIS, please contact us at dnr_ecmc_communityliaison@state.co.us for assistance.
This section will be updated as more information is available
What should I do if I have concerns or need more information?
Contact the Weld County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) for any matters related to the emergency or residential displacement.
Phone: (970) 400-4264
Web: https://www.weld.gov/Government/Departments/Office-of-Emergency-Management
Contact the Weld County Department of Health and Environment for concerns about health and safety.
Phone: (970) 400-6410
Additionally, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) provides expertise related to potential health impacts from oil and gas operations.
Phone: (303)389-1687
Email:cdphe_oghealth@state.co.us
Contact the Chevron Complaint Hotline to coordinate remediation of your property.
Phone: (877) 359-1285
Email: inquiries@bishopwellincident.com
For livestock/ crop concerns, please contact your veterinarian and/ or review the Weld County agriculture-related resources.
The Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) has regulatory oversight of the oil and gas operations when the evacuation order is lifted by Weld County OEM. ECMC’s team of Community Liaisons is here to help answer your questions.
Bishop Well Permitting Materials
NOTE: many of these forms refer to the location as Noble or Noble/Chevron. The previous operator was Noble. The current operator is Chevron.
- The state’s pre-incident permitting/inspection history of the site is publicly available on the ECMC's website via the well scout card.
- As documented on the scout card, this well was initially drilled on 12/23/2023.
- The scout card provides comprehensive well information including approved permitted well construction details. This includes permitted depth of the well, formation and spacing, casing, and cement details.
- A help guide for using scout cards is available HERE.
- The Bishop #A18-742 well is one of sixteen wells drilled on the A07-01 Pad, ECMC Location ID #483510.
Spill Reporting
ECMC collects spill and remediation data from operators per our regulations. That data is publicly posted on our COGIS database upon review by ECMC's expert remediation inspectors. Generally, the data is posted within 72 hours of receipt. Chevron is required to document its work through the submittal of various forms, including but not limited to: the Form 19 Spill/Release Report, the Form 27 Site Investigation and Remediation Workplan, the Form 15 Earthen Pit Permit, the Form 22 Accident Report, and the Form 23 Well Control Report. Once an Operator's Initial Spill/Release Report is approved by the ECMC, a unique Facility ID is assigned to track spill response and cleanup records. Spill/Release ID #489797 has been assigned to this incident. The Spill/Release scout card will serve as a repository for supplemental information provided by the Operator on Form 19 Spill/Release Reports.
ECMC Rules and Regulations
All ECMC rules and regulations are available on our website. Operators must comply with these rules and ECMC holds operators accountable to rules. The following rules pertain to spill incidents:
- ECMC’s 900 Series rules apply to the management of Exploration and Production Waste and Environmental Impacts.
- ECMC’s 600 Series rules govern safe operations during oil and gas operations.