WELD COUNTY, Colo. — One person was injured and an evacuation order was in place Monday for a handful of residents in the Galeton area as emergency personnel investigated a "control incident" at a nearby Chevron well site.
Around 5:50 p.m. on Sunday, officials at the Galeton Fire Protection District in Weld County learned about an incident at an oil and gas facility south of WCR 74, the department posted on social media.
Residents within a half mile of WCR 72 and WCR 51 were evacuated as a precaution, and Galeton Elementary School was closed Monday due to the incident. The school will remain closed on Tuesday, officials said later in the day.
"That school is just outside of the evacuation zone, and there are roads closed beyond that, so we want to make sure that people weren't trying to navigate through road closures to get their kids there," said Jennifer Finch, the public information officer for Weld County. "So, just being cautious as crews are out there assessing the situation and trying to remedy what's happening."
On Monday afternoon, Chevron said the well site was "releasing primarily water with some oil and gas" and that well control experts were on scene and air quality monitoring was being done. It said it was not aware of any health impacts from the release.
The company said that one "business partner employee" was injured and taken to a medical facility.
The evacuation order impacted about 12 people.
The Galeton Fire Protection District said road closures go beyond this evacuation zone so emergency personnel can access the area.
All residents in the area have been asked to avoid ditch burning until further notice.
Ron Meek lives just outside of the evacuation zone in Galeton.
"We've lived in Galeton About 10 years," he said. "Both of our daughters texted us right away, wanting to know what was going on up here."
Meek told Denver7 he's seen lots of activity on the Chevron well site.
"They've been drilling down there for quite a while, for the last couple months or so, and there's been numerous drilling sites down there," he said. "This one has been really, really busy, as far as truck traffic, with sandbox trucks and water trucks and that sort of thing."
Meek added he didn't receive a reverse 911 call after the incident happened, but knows of others who did.
"Somebody I know did get a reverse 911 call," he said. "Since we're kind of out of, I think, out of the evacuation zone, we didn't hear anything, but the fire department, the local fire department is right up the road from us too, and I know they, they sent out some calls."
The Weld County Joint Information Center was activated to help the Galeton Fire Protection District with communication. To hear the most up-to-date information, residents can call 970-400-4264.
This is a developing story. Stay with Denver7 for updates.
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