Colorado recovering from September floods

DENVER, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Days after proposing new regulation on drilling, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said roads damaged by major flooding will be open before Nov. 28.

Hickenlooper said U.S. Highway 34 reopened last week and State Highway 7 will open next week, meaning all highways damaged by September flooding will be open before the state's Dec. 1 goal.

The governor said more than 480 miles of highways through the state were damaged or destroyed by flooding.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission confirmed at least 600 barrels of oil were spilled from operations in the state after more than a foot of rain fell on parts of Colorado.

Environmental advocacy groups sounded the alarm because of the intensity of oil and gas operations in a state the U.S. Energy Department said has "enormous" deposits of oil and natural gas locked in shale deposits.

Exploitation of shale reserves is controversial because of the perceived environmental threat. Hickenlooper said Monday a joint effort with the Environmental Defense Fund and energy companies Noble Energy, Encana and Anadarko, yielded an air pollution proposal for shale. If passed, it would make Colorado the first state to regulate methane emissions associated with oil and gas drilling.