A woman who lives south of Silt says she believes gas drilling is causing chemicals to seep into a nearby creek, resulting in a problem similar to one four years ago that led to the biggest fine the state had ever handed to an energy company.

The Environmental Protection Agency has started an investigation, said Lisa Bracken, but she said state regulators aren’t listening and she’s had trouble getting through to county commissioners, too.

Bracken said she believes she’s seen signs of a new gas seep in West Divide Creek, near one that occurred in 2004 when regulators determined problems at an EnCana well caused gas to escape underground and percolate into the ground water.

She’s seen slime and oily film she thinks is the result of industry chemicals entering the creek. A black ooze and white, crusty material has appeared in the area, she said. Sand and mud have appeared that she fears are a result of drilling operations. She said she’s seen dead trees and animals nearby, the area smells like chemicals and she can light the fumes.

“Over four years and 2,000 feet separate the two events but their similarities cannot be ignored,” Bracken said on Monday as she appealed to the Garfield County commissioners to investigate.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has taken a water sample, but found no evidence of chemicals. Tests of Bracken’s nearby water well also came up negative. But Bracken said the samples came from surface water, not from the ground water bubbling up where she believes the chemicals may show up in greater concentrations.

A representative of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said tests suggest the things Bracken has seen can all be explained by natural processes. The slime seems to be natural bacteria, Debbie Baldwin said, and the smell is more consistent with methane produced by decomposing plants than from natural gas. The telltale “rotten egg” smell Bracken noticed doesn’t come from natural gas in this area, she said, but can come from rotting vegetation. The sand and mud are more likely natural than they are the products of the drilling process, she said.

“There’s no indication that there’s anything there that needs to be sampled,” Baldwin said.

Garfield County commissioners asked Baldwin to take samples of the sand and mud to make sure, though, and Commissioner John Martin said the county would look into hiring a private contractor to take another water sample to see if any gas chemicals were present.

County Commissioner Trési Houpt recused herself because she also sits on the COGCC board. Houpt said she would bring the issue up at a COGCC meeting today.

“I think it’s important to address the concerns of the public,” she said. “I am going to ask them why these tests that Lisa is asking for have not been conducted.”

Bracken said she noticed what appeared to be a second seep in June. It seemed to be associated with increased drilling activity in the same area that resulted in the 2004 seep.

“It’s widely known that this is a problem area,” she said.

Geologic studies of the area found underground fractures that allowed the gas to escape from an EnCana well in 2004 and seep into West Divide Creek, near Bracken’s property.

“If the COGCC is reluctant to act and investigate, I think it’s the place of the county to do so given what’s happened in the past and what’s happening now,” she said.

In an agreement with Bracken, EnCana has been performing regular tests on her well water and has found no sign of chemicals from the gas industry.

EnCana spokeswoman Sher Long said the company had no plans to independently test for chemicals at West Divide Creek, but she said it would comply with any orders from the state and it supported a regulatory investigation.

“It’s in our best interest to know whether there was an impact,” she said. “Our studies have shown there isn’t an impact.”

dfrey@aspendailynews.com