Officials say leak from oil and gas "containment loss" in Northern Colorado now contained

A leak from an oil and gas "containment loss" in Northern Colorado last weekend has been contained, officials said Thursday.

On April 6, the containment loss at the Bishop Well south of Galeton caused residents within a half mile of the site to be evacuated, left one person injured and closed Galeton Elementary School for several days. The county said equipment removal from the site would continue into Wednesday and crews would continue efforts to halt the release Thursday.

Community leaders planned a meeting for Galeton residents at 6 p.m. Thursday. Prior to the meeting, representatives from incident command, including Galeton Fire Protection District Chief Russ Kane, Weld County's Director of Emergency Management Roy Rudisill and Marcus Parham from Chevron, held a press conference to address the incident.

Kane said they're working as quickly as possible while upholding the safety of personnel. He explained that as of 3:30 p.m., there have been no further emissions from the well. Kane shared that they'll continue the control process over the next 24 hours and will continue to monitor air quality levels.

No readings have been above action levels, he added, but because the condition could change quickly, evacuations were ordered as a precautionary measure.

Officials said the half-mile exclusion zone remains in place for now, but talks have begun on recovery and reoccupation. Most of the displaced families were placed in hotel rooms.

The elementary school is located outside of the evacuation zone but is expected to be closed through Friday in an abundance of caution.

Parham said they don't yet know what caused the containment loss, and it remains under investigation.