Nearly 100 Attend Coalbed Strategy Meeting

by Michele Barlow

Imagine the roadside beauty of the Powder River Basin: mixed-grass prairie intermingled with Wyoming big sagebrush, streams lined with plains cottonwoods, pronghorn antelope and beef cattle grazing an expansive range, unsettled space between ranch headquarters and prosperous cities. These are my childhood images, largely formulated during the thousands of bus trips from my family’s cattle ranch to Gillette’s public schools. Fast-forward several decades and the familiar basin landscape of my youth is now criss-crossed with myriad activities associated with coalbed methane (CBM) development.

Conference kick-off

Dan focused on the conference objective: "WOC and PRBRC believe that strong and informed citizen action is the best way to halt degradation of Wyoming’s basin ecosystems in the face of unfettered CBM development."

Pennie recalled her early-morning overflight of local CBM projects. "If the scarring and degradation of the Pilch Ranch is indeed a portent of things to come," she told the audience, "I personally am more painfully alarmed that ever." Pennie was among 22 meeting participants who took to the air that morning with LightHawk, a nonprofit organization that uses fly-overs to educate citizens about land use practices throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Next, Patricia Clark, a fourth-generation rancher in the Pumpkin Buttes area south of Gillette, captivated the audience with a narrated slide show depicting one year of CBM development on her ranch. Patricia is currently awaiting the results of soils and water quality tests. She is worried that if high sodium and bicarbonate levels are revealed, current plant communities will be overwhelmed by sodium-tolerant plants that may be less palatable to livestock and wildlife, or even worse, that soils may become so damaged that very few plants of any kind will survive. She told the audience that she is also very concerned about the impacts of CBM-produced waters on hay meadows, calving pastures and downstream landowners.

Panel highlights

Walt Merschat, a Casper geochemist and advocate for responsible minerals development, described his past work mapping coalbed methane venting in Gillette’s notorious Rawhide Village subdivision as well as a residential neighborhood in the San Juan Basin of Colorado. After addressing the critical issue of aquifer dewatering and the loss of subsurface structure, Walt warned that coalbed fires may be ignited in the Powder River Basin (PRB), based on his familiarity with five coalbed fires in Colorado.

Carol Endicott, a stream ecologist with Confluence Consulting, Inc., of Bozeman, Montana, began her remarks by admitting that the impacts of CBM development on stream health have not been adequately studied, but she listed the potential positive and negative effects of produced CBM waters on stream habitats and aquatic life. To assess water quality and overall stream health, Carol strongly endorsed biological monitoring (a survey of fish, aquatic invertebrates and diatoms) as preferable to studies of water chemistry or effluent toxicity.

The primary advantage of biological monitoring ("biomonitoring"), Carol explained, is that aquatic organisms integrate the physical, chemical and biological conditions of a stream segment over time, in marked contrast to water chemistry analyses which provide only a "snapshot" of water quality conditions. According to Carol, biomonitoring can also be less expensive than laboratory-intensive water quality analyses.

Dr. Larry Munn, a University of Wyoming soils scientist, discussed the interface between PRB soils and two CBM water quality issues: salinity (a measure of dissolved salts in water) and sodicity (a measure of sodium content of water). Low-to-moderate salinity levels reduce plant production and restrict water availability. High salinity levels are directly toxic to plants, create severe water availability problems and generate vegetation changes and bare soil.

Simply put, salt in the soil increases the energy required for a plant to take up water, so less energy is available for leaf growth and seed development. On the issue of sodicity or the Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR), if sodium ions displace too many other ions (e.g., magnesium, calcium) on soil particles, these particles will separate, causing poor water infiltration and increased runoff and erosion. In his concluding comments, Dr. Munn warned that problems related to salinity and sodicity, "get worse with time and are hard to fix."

A disheartening tale

With that backdrop, Nancy drew the audience in with her prepared (and occasionally comic) remarks.

"Like almost every rancher in northern Campbell County," she said, "we are chronically short of two things: water and money. So when we first started hearing rumors of methane development in our area, we were optimistic that some of our shortages might be addressed. At that time, about two-and-a-half years ago, we did not realize the problems that might occur. We didn’t know that well sites could be located every 40 acres, and that two or three wells could be drilled at each site. Most of all, we didn’t understand that Wyoming was open for business at discounted rates, and that the state would leave the surface user and the operators to sort legal and environmental issues out for themselves, or that existing regulations would be interpreted for maximum benefit to the CBM industry."

Next, Nancy told a disheartening story about working with State Lands Office personnel and CBM company representatives on development of a state school section. After long negotiations and signing a weak surface use agreement (designed to set compensation and guide CBM activities), the company is now blatantly violating the terms of the agreement. However, Nancy was careful not to make sweeping generalizations.

"We have not always had problems working with other companies in the industry," she said. "We have successfully negotiated at least seven separate agreements for CBM. Most were settled in days."

However, she noted, mineral owners have an overwhelming advantage over surface owners. Another problem, she told the audience, "is the state’s unwillingness to protect its own citizens from coercive out-of-state corporations who believe they can do anything they want to get their minerals. I often equate the gas industry to a shark: it is just a machine designed to do one thing only. One cannot really blame it for its mindless habits. The state, on the other hand, is the body elected to protect its citizens from such uncontrolled business. So while I am angry at what one CBM company is doing to me and my family, I am more angry at our state officials who are standing by and encouraging this behavior."

Nancy concluded her remarks by exhorting her fellow ranchers to stand firm against coercive industry and state policies. "Ranching in Wyoming is a rare privilege," she said. "It carries with it a great responsibility. Surface users need to be strong in the face of an industry and a state that is apparently indifferent to the environment and the culture."

Mobilizing for change

To transform reckless extraction of Wyoming’s CBM resources into responsible development, Tom emphasized that blocking permits at just one agency substantially slows CBM activity and allows concerned individuals and groups to mobilize for changes in public policy. Tom also summarized the array of legal initiatives being pursued by WOC and PRBRC at both the state and federal levels. (See accompanying articles.)

The final hour of the morning was arguably the high point of the meeting: a lively question-and-answer session, during which ranchers and conservationists queried the panelists at length. We then adjourned the conference to enjoy a buffet lunch and visit with old friends and new acquaintances.

Harkening back to the tedious bus rides of my rural youth, I rediscover a card from Helen Haagensen, that reads, "All your kindness to me in the past is greatly appreciated. I will not be your bus driver next year. Hope you will like the driver in the future. Have a coke and cheeseburger on me."

Thoughtful words and actions by committed individuals can make all the difference in the world. To all the concerned citizens who are working to ensure responsible CBM development: Thanks! We owe you many, many Cokes and cheeseburgers.