Concerns have arisen among the public regarding the potential for drinking-water contamination from the migration of methane gas and hazardous chemicals associated with hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. However, little attention has been paid to the potential for groundwater contamination resulting from surface spills from storage and production facilities at active well sites. We performed a search for publically available data regarding groundwater contamination from spills at U.S. drilling sites. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) database was selected for further analysis because it was the most detailed. The majority of spills were in Weld County, Colorado, which has the highest density of wells that used hydraulic fracturing for completion, many producing both methane gas and crude oil. We analyzed publically available data reported by operators to the COGCC regarding surface spills that impacted groundwater. From July 2010 to July 2011, we noted 77 reported surface spills impacting the groundwater in Weld County, which resulted in surface spills associated with less than 0.5% of the active wells. The reported data included groundwater samples that were analyzed for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) components of crude oil. For groundwater samples taken both within the spill excavation area and on the first reported date of sampling, the BTEX measurements exceeded National Drinking Water maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) in 90, 30, 12, and 8% of the samples, respectively. However, actions taken to remediate the spills were effective at reducing BTEX levels, with at least 84% of the spills reportedly achieving remediation as of May 2012. Our analysis demonstrates that surface spills are an important route of potential groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing activities and should be a focus of programs to protect groundwater.