U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper will tour the site of a massive gasoline spill south of Durango on Wednesday.
He will be joined by a officials from La Plata County government, Environmental Protection Agency, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Southern Ute Indian Tribe leadership, along with representatives from Enterprise Products.
The spill, which occurred within the boundaries of the Southern Ute reservation, was first identified by community members in December 2024, following a rupture in the pipeline and faulty leak detection systems.
According to Southern Ute contractors, 200,000 gallons of gasoline were released into the environment – although Enterprise disputes that number, saying it was likely half that.
Cleanup work remains ongoing and is projected to take several years and tens of millions of dollars to be complete. Hickenlooper will receive a tour of the cleanup area, making him the second Colorado senator to visit the site. U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet visited several months earlier. Colorado gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser has also taken a tour.
Gov. Jared Polis has yet to tour the site, for which he has been heavily criticized by leaders of the state’s western counties.
The tour will occur at 3:35 p.m.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
