Colorado oil and gas wells can’t fund their own cleanup. Taxpayers may foot the bill

Workers tend to a well head in western Colorado on 29 March 2013. Photograph: Brennan Linsley/AP

This story is co-published with DeSmog

Thousands of oil and gas wells across Colorado cannot generate enough revenue to cover their own cleanup costs, according to a new report. Unless state officials act “simply and quickly”, it says, Coloradans can expect to be on the hook for a $3bn shortfall.