Encouraging Responsible Coalbed Methane Development

by Amy Beatie and Tom Darin

While it rips apart the social and environmental fabric of the Powder River Basin, the coalbed methane industry makes money, and lots of it. Unfortunately, the State of Wyoming is allowing and even encouraging the destruction. At the expense of its people. At the expense of more than a century-old way of life in the Powder River Basin. At the expense of the state's ground and surface waters. And at the expense of the state's future.

Thus, WOC remains committed to its goal of encouraging responsible coalbed methane development and has much to report on our "go-slow" coalbed methane campaign.

Powder River Endangered

On April 10, American Rivers released its annual Most Endangered Rivers report, which listed the Powder as the fifth most endangered river in the U.S., due to threats from coalbed methane development. Designation of a river as endangered is a call to action for decisionmakers. Such designations have often had profoundly positive effects on the future of the listed rivers. We hope the same is true for the Powder. For more information about American Rivers or its listing of the Powder River, please see www.americanrivers.org and www.wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org.

Revising WY Water Quality Rules

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) recently announced its plans to revise three chapters of Wyoming's Water Quality Rules and Regulations: Chapter 2, which governs the general operation of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program; Chapter 7, regarding permits for oil and gas exploration; and Chapter 10, which addresses coal-mining permits.

These revisions have the potential to greatly improve the coalbed methane NPDES permitting process. Among the suggested revisions, the WDEQ has asked for input on whether landowners affected by coalbed methane water discharges should receive targeted notification and whether effluent limits should be established on an industry-by-industry basis.

These suggestions, along with several others, may signal that the agency is becoming more thoughtful in its oversight of coalbed methane drilling activity.

EPA to Review State's NPDES Program

A state can obtain authority to administer the NPDES program, subject to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval and oversight, if it complies with certain legal requirements. Although Wyoming has the authority to administer the NPDES program, WOC has voiced repeated concerns about the program's efficacy and legality.

After little to no response from the state, WOC petitioned the EPA to withdraw Wyoming's authority to administer the program, and with it, federal funding for the program. The EPA recently contacted WOC to explain the actions it will take in response to our petition.

In July and August, the EPA will conduct a comprehensive review of Wyoming's NPDES program. First, the agency will conduct a statutory and regulatory review of the program's administration, the adequacy of its financial and personnel resources, and its data management. Second, the EPA will address the permitting program, focusing on permit quality, compliance with public participation requirements, the numbers of permits issued and the rate at which permits are issued. Last, the EPA will examine the WDEQ's permit compliance and enforcement efforts, documenting the frequency and adequacy of inspections, the number of enforcement actions and the use of penalties for violations.

Objecting to NPDES Permits

WOC continues to file objections to coalbed methane NPDES permits, arguing for a moratorium on permits or at least a more cautious permitting approach. First, the WDEQ has not required coalbed methane operators to obtain stormwater permits for their construction activities. Second, the WDEQ has refused to require the coalbed methane industry to conduct toxicity testing of its discharge water even though studies show that salts may have toxic effects on aquatic species found in the Powder River Basin. Third, the WDEQ continues to fail to conduct an analysis required by law that mandates examination of the feasibility of pollution controls such as discharge water treatment and re-injection. WOC will continue to object to the WDEQ's NPDES permits until the agency complies with the law.

Montana vs. Wyoming

Montana and Wyoming continue to duke it out over Wyoming's coalbed methane development. The two states meet monthly to address the effects of coalbed methane development on the health of shared waters and determine what constitutes a measurable increase in pollution.

Montana's DEQ arrives at these meetings with its own research, graphs, proposals and compilations of water-quality data. Wyoming's DEQ arrives with the same sort of information, except that it's provided by the state's coalbed methane industry, which fills the vacuum created by the WDEQ's failure to provide its own materials.

In essence, the WDEQ has left industry, with its direct economic interest in the outcome of these discussions, to run the show. The good news is that Montana remains strong in its negotiating positions.

Re-injecting Water

The underground injection control (UIC) program, a federal Safe Drinking Water Act program, protects underground drinking-water sources from contamination by injected fluids.

Many of the surface impacts from coalbed methane development can be eliminated if the produced water is re-injected underground. However, re-injection of any fluids, particularly those associated with oil and gas drilling, can contaminate aquifers.

In May, the WDEQ held a public hearing to receive comments on its proposed UIC rule revision to facilitate re-injection of CBM byproduct water by reforming the way it issues general permits for re-injecting fluids into specific aquifers. Before issuing such permits, the WDEQ proposes to collect information on site-specific factors such as aquifer water quality, the ability of the aquifer formation to receive re-injected fluids and the possibility of cross-aquifer contamination.

Overall, the proposed rulemaking is a step in the right direction. With general permits, industry will be more inclined to re-inject byproduct water, which will alleviate some of the problems created by dumping discharged water onto the surface.

Re-injection, however, is not a panacea. WOC, in written comments, highlighted concerns with the WDEQ proposal's failure to require treatment of produced water, failure to require pre-injection separation of drilling fluids from CBM water and the potential waste of water. We will remain involved in the UIC rule revisions because, if they are expanded to include the protections we have requested, they will provide responsible companies with an incentive to return discharged water to where it belongs: underground, for the use of future generations.

CBM Spreading Statewide

Coalbed methane problems are not limited to northeastern Wyoming. South central Wyoming is next on the CBM industry's agenda. In April, the Rawlins office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reported that 21 coalbed methane wells have been initiated on public lands within the Great Divide BLM resource area. In June, the BLM revised well estimates for its Atlantic Rim Project. When the agency announced the project last year, it proposed to study 96 CBM wells. The BLM, at industry's request, is now studying the potential for nearly 4,000 CBM wells in the area. In addition, industry has proposed several new projects, including one on the Little Snake River, one near Seminoe Reservoir and another near Hanna.

In the Spotlight

Runaway CBM activities and WOC's involvement in encouraging responsible development have been the subject of numerous newspaper and magazine articles and news broadcasts in the past several months. (See article on page 5.) In addition, WOC's leading role in reforming CBM development is now on the radar screens of national environmental groups, including the National Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

WOC's Dan Heilig and Tom Darin recently traveled to Washington to meet with energy-policy staffers for key U.S. Senators who will frame the Democratic response to the Bush Administration's national energy policy. Visits with top staffers for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Harry Reid (D-NV) and Diane Feinstein (D-CA) will ensure that coalbed methane issues in Wyoming do not get lost in the debate as energy policies and legislation are developed this summer and fall.

Is WOC Asking Too Much?

Although industry and even state officials have called WOC "extremist" for its position on coalbed methane development in Wyoming, we do not think that asking the state and industry to assess the effects of coalbed methane extraction before it causes irreversible destruction to our lands and scarce water resources is terribly radical. Neither do we think it is "extremist" to ask Wyoming's agencies to comply with the law. WOC's CBM program merely endeavors to ensure that the state and industry protect our environment and way of life as they proceed with CBM development.