Oil companies used fraudulent scheme to shift liability for orphaned Colorado wells onto the state, lawsuit claims

Denver-based HRM Resources acted as a middleman, moving wells from larger companies to smaller ones that went bankrupt, lawsuit says

A rusting orphan well sits at the end of Cindy McCormick’s driveway. She passes it when she goes out and when she comes home — a horsehead pump jack, a dilapidated shed, big weather-stained tanks and a pit.

The old oil and gas site has become a dumping ground attracting mattresses, couches and an old foosball table. The sign on the well pad located in unincorporated Adams County identifies the owner as Painted Pegasus Petroleum LLC — a bankrupt Texas company.

It is just one orphan well among an estimated 1,800 in Colorado, but a lawsuit filed in Adams County District Court contends it is part of a large, fraudulent scheme to dump old, played-out wells onto the state.