© Erin Hull, APView of a field flooded as the Poudre River spills over its banks and into Eastman Park on May 25, 2014, in Windsor, Colo.
"At this time we know of no drinking water intakes affected by this spill. The release is not ongoing," COGCC spokesman Todd Hartman said
The oil has stained vegetation as far as a quarter of mile away from the damaged tank, Hartman said.
The tank's operator, Noble Energy, discovered the spill Tuesday afternoon and later reported it to the COGCC, the state's regulatory agency for the oil and gas industry. Recent high river flows undercut the bank where the storage tank was sitting, causing the tank to drop and breaking a valve. About 178 barrels of oil dumped into the river.
The well near the tank has been shut in, and a second tank in the area appears to be unaffected, Hartman said in a news release.
COGCC and water quality experts from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment were at the scene of the tank spill, where clean-up efforts were underway Friday. Clean-up crews are working to absorb the spilled oil and a vac-truck is removing oil-filled standing water from a low-lying area around the tank.
The site of the spill is southeast of Fort Collins near the Poudre River Trail.
It's just a little spill, and no one will notice or care, right? And who thought of storing it next to the river? Great idea... must have been the same crew that thought of fixing the area around Fukushima... lower that land, it's too high... Oooops... that guy must have gotten a raise and a promotion.