Late Wednesday, reports emerged that at least 5,250 gallons of crude oil had seeped into the South Platte River in the north-central part of the state. The oil was leaking from damaged Anadarko Petroleum tanks. "Anadarko is responding and has absorbent booms in the water," said a statement from the state's Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Another report noted that Noble Energy was seeing a "limited amount of natural gas" leaking from one of its wells. (See related story: "As the Arctic Melts, a Race to Test Oil Spill Cleanup Technology.")

Inspectors have yet to reach many of the well sites, in part because many roads remain inaccessible, according to Todd Hartman, a spokesman for the Colorado DNR.

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