Gunbarrel trails news

According to the city of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP), the northernmost portion of the East Boulder Trail –- White Rocks Trail — is again open after a temporary closure for the past two weeks.

According to the OSMP, the closure was due to petroleum field operations in the area. An abandoned well was capped. The State of Colorado is working to be sure abandoned wells are capped as they are known to potentially leak hydrocarbons into the air and ground. The Orphaned Wells Enterprise is an initiative aimed at gathering funds from current and former operators to address the growing number of abandoned wells. Additionally, Colorado State University is in the midst of studying and quantifying the amount of pollution that is seeping into the environment around current and past oil field operations. CSUAbandonedWellStudy

Usually the abandoning and capping of a well is performed because the well is no longer sufficiently productive to economically support continued operation, or there is a mechanical issue at the borehole that cannot be resolved. The abandoning and capping procedure requires cement to fill the hole adequately so that the borehole perforations at the producing zones are plugged and there is no leakage above or below the cement that could allow hydrocarbons to seep into the groundrock.

A cement cap then is put at the top of the well to permanently seal it and prevent any residual gas hydrocarbons from leaking into the air. These procedures require heavy equipment to be operating near the trail causing the need for closure.

Additional trail news: Anyone hiking the Gunbarrel - East Boulder Trail east from the top of Gunbarrel Hill may be surprised to find that the trail has been completely relocated. The trail no longer goes directly east from the tank at the top of the hill. The trail now winds around the tank’s east side and then drops off the side of the promontory until it hits the final portion of the East Boulder Trail to 95th Street. The old location of the Gunbarrel - East Boulder Trail is closed off and is now being reclaimed as wildlife habitat.