Shallow Gas Drilling Leases
The first 4 wells are in houston Cook is in wasilla.
Diesel Range Organics
(DRO)
residual-range
organic ((RRO) hydrocarbons in soil
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PRODUCTION FOR PIONEER
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Wl_Permit
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API_WellNo
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Well_Nm
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RptDate
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SumOfFieldPool
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WellType
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ProdDays
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ProdOil
|
ProdWater
|
ProdGas
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Jun-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Jul-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Aug-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Sep-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Oct-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Nov-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Dec-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Jan-04
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Jun-03
|
610500
|
2
|
18
|
0
|
538
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Jul-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
498
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Aug-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
171
|
0
|
|
PRODUCTION FOR PIONEER
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Wl_Permit
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API_WellNo
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Well_Nm
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RptDate
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SumOfFieldPool
|
WellType
|
ProdDays
|
ProdOil
|
ProdWater
|
ProdGas
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Jun-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Jul-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Aug-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Sep-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Oct-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Nov-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Dec-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1990680
|
50009200069000
|
PIONEER UNIT BLT-01
|
01-Jan-04
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Jun-03
|
610500
|
2
|
18
|
0
|
538
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Jul-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
498
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Aug-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
171
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Sep-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
97
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Oct-03
|
610500
|
2
|
7
|
0
|
13
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Nov-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Dec-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2021800
|
50009200220000
|
COOK 1
|
01-Jan-04
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2021810
|
50009200230000
|
CORNHUSKER 4
|
01-Jun-03
|
610500
|
2
|
9
|
0
|
1373
|
0
|
2021810
|
50009200230000
|
CORNHUSKER 4
|
01-Jul-03
|
610500
|
2
|
25
|
0
|
5093
|
4
|
2021810
|
50009200230000
|
CORNHUSKER 4
|
01-Aug-03
|
610500
|
2
|
28
|
0
|
8644
|
94
|
2021810
|
50009200230000
|
CORNHUSKER 4
|
01-Sep-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
8191
|
69
|
2021810
|
50009200230000
|
CORNHUSKER 4
|
01-Oct-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
9123
|
92
|
2021810
|
50009200230000
|
CORNHUSKER 4
|
01-Nov-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
8524
|
104
|
2021810
|
50009200230000
|
CORNHUSKER 4
|
01-Dec-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
8640
|
115
|
2021810
|
50009200230000
|
CORNHUSKER 4
|
01-Jan-04
|
610500
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2
|
24
|
0
|
5626
|
106
|
2021820
|
50009200240000
|
ROBERT L SMITH 3
|
01-Jun-03
|
610500
|
2
|
12
|
0
|
721
|
127
|
2021820
|
50009200240000
|
ROBERT L SMITH 3
|
01-Jul-03
|
610500
|
2
|
29
|
0
|
293
|
138
|
2021820
|
50009200240000
|
ROBERT L SMITH 3
|
01-Aug-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
682
|
120
|
2021820
|
50009200240000
|
ROBERT L SMITH 3
|
01-Sep-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
579
|
86
|
2021820
|
50009200240000
|
ROBERT L SMITH 3
|
01-Oct-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
509
|
61
|
2021820
|
50009200240000
|
ROBERT L SMITH 3
|
01-Nov-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
466
|
53
|
2021820
|
50009200240000
|
ROBERT L SMITH 3
|
01-Dec-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
474
|
86
|
2021820
|
50009200240000
|
ROBERT L SMITH 3
|
01-Jan-04
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
417
|
68
|
2021830
|
50009200250000
|
GARY JOANN STROMBERG 2
|
01-Jun-03
|
610500
|
2
|
15
|
0
|
983
|
147
|
2021830
|
50009200250000
|
GARY JOANN STROMBERG 2
|
01-Jul-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
192
|
143
|
2021830
|
50009200250000
|
GARY JOANN STROMBERG 2
|
01-Aug-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
297
|
112
|
2021830
|
50009200250000
|
GARY JOANN STROMBERG 2
|
01-Sep-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
157
|
90
|
2021830
|
50009200250000
|
GARY JOANN STROMBERG 2
|
01-Oct-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
135
|
75
|
2021830
|
50009200250000
|
GARY JOANN STROMBERG 2
|
01-Nov-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
122
|
72
|
2021830
|
50009200250000
|
GARY JOANN STROMBERG 2
|
01-Dec-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
114
|
111
|
2021830
|
50009200250000
|
GARY JOANN STROMBERG 2
|
01-Jan-04
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
86
|
87
|
2021840
|
50009200260000
|
D L SMITH 1
|
01-Jun-03
|
610500
|
2
|
18
|
0
|
2545
|
185
|
2021840
|
50009200260000
|
D L SMITH 1
|
01-Jul-03
|
610500
|
2
|
23
|
0
|
574
|
25
|
2021840
|
50009200260000
|
D L SMITH 1
|
01-Aug-03
|
610500
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2021840
|
50009200260000
|
D L SMITH 1
|
01-Sep-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
606
|
11
|
2021840
|
50009200260000
|
D L SMITH 1
|
01-Oct-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
720
|
15
|
2021840
|
50009200260000
|
D L SMITH 1
|
01-Nov-03
|
610500
|
2
|
30
|
0
|
644
|
12
|
2021840
|
50009200260000
|
D L SMITH 1
|
01-Dec-03
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
623
|
9
|
2021840
|
50009200260000
|
D L SMITH 1
|
01-Jan-04
|
610500
|
2
|
31
|
0
|
531
|
10
|
State of Alaska > News & Announcements
Murkowski: Lease Buyback is Last Resort
December 8, 2003
No. 03-252
(Anchorage) - Governor Frank H. Murkowski has made it clear that consideration of the state buying back any coalbed methane leases in the Mat-Su and on the Kenai Peninsula would only be after all other options are exhausted.
"The state will consider buybacks of shallow natural gas leases only as a last resort," Murkowski said on Thursday, December 4, while responding to a question during a press conference.
DNR is currently engaged with the public in crafting rules, such as setback requirements, noise limitations, and water quality monitoring, that will be required for coalbed methane development in the Mat-Su Borough.
"Prior to approving any coalbed methane development, the Department of Natural Resources will make a determination as to whether additional site specific measures are necessary given the particular values of the location," Murkowski said. "Until DNR's public process is complete and the companies have determined where development might occur, it is premature to consider buybacks."
The state remains committed to the development of coalbed methane, recognizing that over the next decade the known reserves of natural gas in the Cook Inlet region may be inadequate to meet the demand. Additionally, coalbed methane could be a significant source of rural energy.
###
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Contact: John Manly, Press Secretary, 465-3995
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Evergreen engineer leaving state to attend school
SPOKESMAN: Tanigawa says Mat-Su brouhaha not reason for departure.
By ZAZ HOLLANDER
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: November 5, 2003)
John Tanigawa, Alaska projects manager for Evergreen Resources Inc. (By Richard Mauer / Anchorage Daily News)
Click on photo to enlarge
|
WASILLA -- The engineer who served as the public face of Evergreen Resources Inc. as the company drew heat for the extent of its coal bed methane leases in the Mat-Su is leaving his job.
John Tanigawa, Evergreen's Alaska projects manager, said Tuesday that he is going back to school, probably to pursue an MBA, within the next several months. Until he leaves, he will serve as a consultant for Evergreen but is no longer a full-time employee.
Tanigawa, 37, said he planned for some time to make this move, with the blessing of Evergreen officials including chief executive Mark Sexton.
"This is something that Mark and I, Evergreen and I, have been talking about for the last couple years," he said by phone Tuesday night. "It may seem surprising to some people, but internally, it isn't."
A petroleum engineer educated at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo., Tanigawa also served as a technical adviser to a United Nations coal bed methane program in China.
He started work with Evergreen more than five years ago, scoping out the company's Alaska prospects, then moved here to make the project work.
"I'd love to come back to Alaska," said Tanigawa, who frequently said that moving to Alaska was living out his dream.
Evergreen has secured state subsurface leases to explore for and produce methane across more than 300,000 acres.
Many Mat-Su residents were surprised to discover the extent
DNR puts new leases on hold
By RINDI WHITE-Frontiersman reporter
"Coal seams don't understand land ownership patterns."
That one phrase, from Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin at a meeting at Tanaina Elementary School Monday, probably best sums up the conflict between local property owners who wouldn't mind having coal-bed methane development on their property, those who are afraid of the consequences of such development, and the company seeking to move forward in developing, according to DNR, about 140,000 acres of leases, some of which they currently hold and some pending, in the Valley.
Irwin, at the meeting, announced that his department and other state agencies will be working with the Mat-Su Borough to develop guidelines for coal-bed methane development within the borough. While those regulations are being developed, Irwin said, new leases will not be issued and new work is being put on hold.
"We're going to do exploration; we're going to do development, test holes. We'll get data from that. We're not approving leases," Irwin said after the meeting. During the meeting, he said Evergreen Resources would be able to move ahead in two areas -- geologic testing Evergreen had planned to have done over the winter and work on two four-well pilot projects, with landowner approval. "We want and need this all to go forward," Irwin said. "It's going to provide the very data needed to analyze [the project]."
Pat Galvin, with DNR's division of oil and gas, said the decision not to approve any additional leases isn't necessarily a moratorium.
"We're committed to not issuing any shallow natural gas leases that have been applied for, that are pending approval, until we have completed this process," Galvin said Wednesday. But, he added, the research into title holdings and other information necessary to approve those pending leases -- a lengthy process in itself -- will continue while the guidelines are developed. "We don't really think that it's going to result in that decision being put off any longer than it would normally. We don't really see it as a moratorium."
At the meeting, the audience was asked to address specific concerns they'd like to see addressed through DNR or other state regulations. Many of the same concerns residents have brought up at other meetings were mentioned -- setback requirements, noise levels, the need for further study of potential methane migration, the need for more comprehensive data relating to the area's water table and more. By the end of the meeting, DNR staff had compiled a pages-long list of points the residents said they'd like to see included in future CBM regulations.
Mark Myers, DNR's director of the division of oil and gas, said Monday's meeting was the beginning of a process that will likely stretch over the next few months.
"We will spend the time, we will hear your comments and we will see you through the process," Myers said. "This meeting is to start that process."
Irwin told the audience he and some of his staff had recently returned from a trip to Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, where they toured CBM well-sites, talked to local county commissioners, local officials and a mix of landowners who received mineral royalties and those who did not, as well as with people representing the industry, state governments and the federal Bureau of Land Management. Although reluctant to discuss the specifics of the trip and take time away from the intent of the meeting, Irwin said he'd talk more about the trip later, likely at upcoming workshops.
"We did learn a lot, from start to finish," Irwin said.
Galvin said he's been assigned to put develop guidelines pertaining to how CBM is developed in the Valley.
"Tonight really is the kickoff of this process," Galvin said. The proposals collected at the meeting, he said, would be compiled and draft recommendations will be created by the project team. Currently, the project team is made up of representatives from DNR, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the Mat-Su Borough. Several at the meeting asked that at least one person be on the team representing the public's concerns, but Galvin said the makeup of the project team isn't likely to change.
"The project team was put together to have representatives from state and local entities who have some sort of oversight in making decisions pertaining to CBM," Galvin said, adding that the workshops were intended to be the conduit for public involvement. "It shouldn't be seen as a preclusion, because it really is a public process."
Workshops, Galvin said, will be held around the area in November and December, where people can review the recommendations and take part in coming up with ideas to resolve conflicts. DNR staff will put the information together into a set of draft guidelines that will direct the decisions DNR makes, he said, and public hearings will be held before that document goes to Irwin's office.
"We're not here to try to resolve issues," Galvin told meeting attendees. "We have to establish the process to make those decisions. We want this to be a public process."
Irwin, after the meeting, said DNR had planned to go through the process of making guidelines for CBM development in the area eventually. It wasn't, he said, a process borne from public opposition to the development.
"It accelerated it," Irwin said of the opposition. "People need to be listened to. On the other hand, there's other folks in other parts of the state saying 'Will you please hurry up so we can have it here?.' But we don't want to make some of the mistakes made elsewhere
The Coalbed Methane Project
One of the greatest environmental threats of our time - coalbed methane (CBM) development - is spreading like wildfire. Regions of Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia, Wyoming, British Columbia and Alberta are serving as testing grounds for the experimental development of coalbed methane (a so-called alternative fuel because it is a source of natural gas).
In order to produce methane from coal seams, typically massive amounts of groundwater must be pumped from underground aquifers, coal seams are fractured with toxic fluids to stimulate production, and a web of roads, pipelines, transmission lines and compressor stations are constructed to deliver the product to market.
Thousands of wells and roads have scarred vast landscapes, denuded wildlife habitat, contaminated drinking water, and methane and hydrogen sulfide seeps have forced some families from their homes. Domestic and stock wells have dried up and billions of barrels of produced water (often high in sodium, arsenic, and other contaminants) are being dumped on the surface and into rivers. Underground coal fires are the latest problem among a laundry list of devastating impacts.
With tens of thousands of CBM wells proposed for public, private, and tribal lands across the United States and western Canada, this is a critical time for citizen and environmental groups to join together in a coordinated fashion to aggressively challenge CBM development and its destructive impacts.
Network Members
(inquire about joining the network)
Twenty organizations from across the country have established the Coalbed Methane Project (CBMP) to aggressively challenge CBM development. Participating groups are Oil & Gas Accountability Project (Coordinator), Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Dakota Resource Council, East of Huajatolla Citizens Alliance, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, High Country Citizens Alliance, Native Action, Northern Plains Resource Council, Powder River Basin Resource Council, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Southern Colorado CURE, Southern Ute Grassroots Organization, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Western Colorado Congress, Western Slope Environmental Resource Council, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Cook Inlet Keepers, Denali Citizens Council, Surface Owners of the Wolf Mountain Area and Western Organization of Resource Councils.
Project Goals
The Coalbed Methane Project seeks to dispel the industry-perpetuated myth that natural gas is clean energy. The promotion of coalbed methane as clean energy is not only undermining efforts to pursue conservation and renewable energy systems, but also is forcing regions of our country to become national sacrifice areas.
The goals and objectives of the Coalbed Methane Project campaign are to ensure that CBM development proceeds only when surface and groundwater are protected and when the cumulative impacts of thousands of CBM wells, roads, pipelines, compressor stations, hydraulic fracturing procedures, and water disposal wells are understood. Our focus includes: Challenging inappropriate development and enforcing existing laws; Changing policy at the federal, state, tribal, and local level; and, Building the capacity of our groups to effectively address CBM development.
Natural Gas - Clean Energy or Filthy Fuel?
As America struggles to meet its energy demands and reduce air pollution, coalbed methane (a source of natural gas) is being promoted by the oil and gas industry as a clean, alternative fuel.
At a 2000 worldwide oil and gas industry symposium on coalbed methane (CBM), speakers announced plans for accelerated development of this so-called "environmentally-friendly" fuel. Adding insult to injury, Congress is responding to high oil prices by considering tax incentives to spur "alternative" fuels production and legislation to open more public lands to this destructive development.
As stated in a 1993 Greenpeace report, "To describe natural gas as a clean-burning, non-polluting fuel is to either minimize or completely ignore its total fuel cycle impacts - beginning with initial seismic surveys, drilling, production, processing, and distribution - all the way through to the final combustion process. Even a cursory look at these impacts dispels the notion that natural gas is a clean fuel." (Natural Gas: Bridging Fuel or Roadblock to Clean Energy by Carol Alexander). We must work to dispel the industry-perpetuated myth that natural gas is a clean fuel alternative and point out accelerated CBM development is undermining efforts to pursue renewable energy sources.
Will Citizen Action Make a Difference?
Absolutely! Citizen groups have already been successful on a number of fronts to reduce the impacts of CBM development. While much remains to be done, the employment of the organizing philosophy, "endless pressure endlessly applied" is working. Groups have successfully organized to establish county regulation of oil and gas development, to force public lands agencies to complete environmental impact studies, and to pressure state oil and gas commissions to conduct baseline testing of water wells and map old oil and gas wells not properly plugged and abandoned that were contributing contamination of water sources. Grassroots organizing efforts have also forced companies to stop illegally dumping produced water in rivers, irrigation ditches and spreading it on roads for dust control. Produced water, often containing toxic and hazardous chemicals, has also been found to contain benzene and toluene, known carcinogens. Groups are also challenging oil and gas industry domination of state oil and gas boards.
Get Involved In The Coalbed Methane Project!
Join with one of the participating organizations listed below. Your involvement and financial contributions - large and small - will make a difference.
Oil & Gas Accountability Project
P.O. Box 1102
Durango, Colorado 81302-1102
970-259-3353; Fax: 970-259-7514
gwenlachelt@ogap.org
baizelb@earthlink.net
dawn@ogap.org
www.ogap.org
Oil & Gas Accountability Project
PO Box 426
El Prado, NM 87529
505-776-3276 / phone
505-776-3837 / fax
jennifergoldman@ogap.org
Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
P.O. Box 1512
Laramie, Wyoming 82073-1512
(307) 742 7978; Fax: (307) 742-7989
erik@voiceforthewild.org
http://www.voiceforthewild.org
Cook Inlet Keeper
Bob Shavelson, Lois Epstein
PO Box 3269
Homer, AK 99603
907-235-4068; Fax: 907-235-4069
bob@inletkeeper.org
Dakota Resource Council
PO Box 1095
Dickinson, ND 58602
701-483-2851
701-483-2854 / fax
Mark Trechock - Director
mtrechock@pop.ctctel.com
Denali Citizens Council
Leslie Adams
Box 78
Denali Park, AK 99755
907-683-2593
leslie@denalicitizens.org
East of Huajatolla Citizens Alliance
21601 County Road 50.9
Aguilar, Colorado 81020
719-941-4150
www.ehcitizens.org/cbmgas
Greater Yellowstone Coalition
13 S. Willson, Suite 2
P.O. Box 1874
Bozeman, Montana 59771
(406) 586-1593 Fax: (406) 586-0851
mfrost@greateryellowstone.org
www.greateryellowstone.org
High Country Citizens' Alliance
P.O. Box 1066, 724 Elk Avenue
Crested Butte, Colorado 81224
(970) 349-7104; FAX (970) 349-0164
sshea@rmi.net
http://www.hccaonline.org
Native Action
P.O. Box 409
Lame Deer, Montana 59043
406-477-6390; Fax: 406-477-6421
gsmall@mcn.net
Northern Plains Resource Council
2401 Montana Avenue #200
Billings, Montana 59101-2336
406-248-1154; Fax: 406-248-2110
leona@northernplains.org
www.northernplains.org
Powder River Basin Resource Council
23 North Scott
Sheridan, Wyoming 82801
Phone: 307-672-5809; Fax: 307-672-5800
gillian@powderriverbasin.org
jillm@powderriverbasin.org
www.powderriverbasin.org
San Juan Citizens Alliance
PO Box 2461
Durango, Colorado 81302-2461
970-259-3583; Fax: 970-259-8303
mpearson@frontier.net
arolston@frontier.net
www.sanjuancitizens.org
Southern Colorado CURE
P.O. Box 21
Bon Carbo, Colorado 81024
719-846-6863
pbieber@direcway.com
Southern Ute Grassroots Organization
P.O. Box 637 - Southern Ute Indian Reservation
Ignacio, Colorado 81137
970-563-9522
sage@frontier.net
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
P.O. Box 968
Moab, Utah 84532
435-259-5440 Fax: 435-259-9151
herb@suwa.org
www.suwa.org
Surface Owners of the Wolf Mountain Area
Colleen Simpson
PO Box 645
Billings, MT 59103
406-259-9295
sowmacrow2002@hotmail.com
Western Colorado Congress
P.O. Box 1931
Grand Junction, Colorado 81502
970-256-7650
deanna@wccongress.org
sura@wccongress.org
www.wccongress.org
Western Organization of Resource Councils
60584 Horizon Drive
Montrose, CO 81401
970-323-6849
Kevin Williams
montrose@worc.org
Western Slope Environmental Resource Council
PO Box 1612
Paonia, Colorado 81428
phone & fax 970/527-5307
elsie@wserc.org
www.wserc.org
Wyoming Outdoor Council
262 Lincoln
Lander, Wyoming 82520
307-332-7031; Fax: 307-332-6899
dan@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org
tom@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org
www.wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org
This page last modified on 21 September 2003 .
© 2002-2003, The Oil & Gas Accountability Project and Naked Esse
Evergreen helped Kohring craft Alaska law
HB 69: Bill limits local government's ability to regulate shallow gas drilling.
By ZAZ HOLLANDER
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: September 21, 2003)
"It eliminates a layer of bureaucracy that was slowing down the process of developing resources." - Rep. Vic Kohring
John Tanigawa, Alaska Projects Manager for Evergreen Resources Corp., has assured Valley residents that the company will not drill on private land without landowner cooperation. A well near Loon Lake in Houston, above, was designed to test the company's prospects for producing methane from underground coal deposits. (Photo by Richard Mauer / Anchorage Daily News)
"That's a bad-faith way to do business in a community when you've been trying to put this happy face on what a wonderful company you are." - Mat-Su Assemblyman Jim Colver
Evergreen CEO Mark Sexton gave Rep. Vic Kohing his input on HB 69 during a visit to Alaska last year.
In 1996, Republican Scott Ogan co-wrote House Bill 394, creating the state's shallow gas program.
|
WASILLA -- The new state law that pulls the teeth from local government when it comes to regulating shallow gas drilling and production was crafted by the Colorado company that holds the gas leases scattered through the populated parts of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
And the legislator who wrote the bill and shepherded it through the state capital, Republican Vic Kohring, represents a portion of that citizenry from his base in Wasilla.
"Of course, the borough can be bypassed in this whole process, but I think that's a good thing," Kohring said by telephone last week. "It eliminates a layer of bureaucracy that was slowing down the process of developing resources."
Kohring says he sat down with lobbyists and other officials of the Colorado company, Evergreen Resources Corp., before he started work on the legislation, House Bill 69.
Today that law has become one of the flash points in an intense debate over coal bed methane production, which appears to be coming to Alaska. One of the law's most contentious provisions gives the state the right to trump rules adopted by local governments such as the Mat-Su Borough.
Boroughs and municipalities, responsible for land use regulations, could present a neighborhood-level layer of protection for homeowners watching the new industry of coal bed methane come to Alaska.
But the new law allows the commissioner of natural resources to override local governments if there is a compelling state interest. That loss of guaranteed local control has stunned numerous residents in the Valley, the fastest-growing part of the state and the seat of Evergreen's expansion plans. (The company also has state leases in the more rural area around Delta Junction in the Interior, while other companies hold coal gas leases or are considering them around Homer and in Western Alaska's Holitna basin.)
In recent public meetings, scores of residents said they discovered the existence of coal bed methane -- or shallow gas -- only in late summer, after they realized that Evergreen already held leases or pending leases in patches that run from Houston to Chickaloon, and wanted the rights to more.
CONCERN MOUNTS
Miners and geologists have long known that methane, the main component of natural gas, is almost always present in coal beds. But only in the past decade or so have resource companies figured out how to extract commercially valuable quantities of methane and leave the coal in place. To recover methane from coal seams, producers pump off vast amounts of water, which from that depth is often contaminated with salts. The gas rises as the water is withdrawn.
In the Lower 48, problems ranging from dry or contaminated drinking wells to salt-laced creeks have been blamed on gas drilling. In Alaska, Evergreen has promised to reinject produced water deep in the ground, thousands of feet below domestic wells.
But even with reinjection, many landowners have expressed concern about what development may do to their property rights.
Hundreds around Mat-Su packed town hall meetings over the past month to learn more about Evergreen's plans. Many were shocked to learn that even before Kohring's law, the state constitution gave resource extraction companies the right to not only drill in their back yards without their permission but also construct gravel drilling pads, access roads, gates, compressors, pumps, metering stations and pipelines.
At a Palmer meeting in mid-September, several landowners asked Evergreen to stay off their land.
"I want to get it in writing that you will not come on my property," demanded John Vinduska, whose 120-odd acres on Lazy Mountain are surrounded by gas leases.
Evergreen Alaska Projects Manager John Tanigawa repeated a corporate pledge not to drill without landowner cooperation.
Under House Bill 69, signed by Gov. Frank Murkowski in May, it might be hard for the borough to come to the rescue.
Kohring said last week that he first got together with Evergreen over a long lunch late last year after CEO Mark Sexton and government relations director Jack Ekstrom came to Alaska.
"We got together; they explained their concerns," Kohring said.
Chief among them were the bureaucratic hurdles posed by Alaska's conventional oil and gas program. The state agency with authority over Evergreen's drilling, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, had never dealt with gas development like coal bed methane before.
Developed to handle deep wells in remote places like the North Slope, the state's oil and gas laws guard against worst-case scenarios such as blowouts and oil spills.
Coal bed methane comes out of the ground via a "glorified water well" more slowly than air leaking from a bike tire, Ekstrom says. And rarely do the new kind of shallow gas wells, at 4,000 feet or less, encounter any oil.
Tanigawa, Evergreen's Alaska representative, tells stories about the 3,000 pages of paperwork he used to file with every permit.
But company officials and legislators involved also say the company wanted to make sure that in Alaska, Evergreen could avoid some of the local government hassles they and other developers had encountered in Colorado.
LEGAL HURDLES
Given controversies erupting around coal bed methane in Wyoming and elsewhere, some Colorado counties considered rejecting drilling in populated areas. Boulder County, with its well-developed environmental movement, tried to charge $10,000 per well permit until the state overruled it, Ekstrom noted.
In 2001, commissioners in Las Animas County adopted new regulations to reduce disturbance to property owners from about 2,000 gas wells in the ground and 200 new ones permitted every year.
A blue-collar corner of southeastern Colorado with 20,000 residents, the arid country of Las Animas had begun to draw retirees to scores of subdivisions, said county planning director Bob Lucero.
That year, Evergreen and other gas producers sued, arguing the county lacked the authority to regulate coal bed methane, said Bill Cordova, county administrator.
The county settled before the case ever got to federal court in Denver, and by spring 2002, Las Animas County had a new set of regulations.
Instead of the gas developer notifying landowners within 1,000 feet of a proposed well, the county now has that responsibility, Lucero said. Rather than charging $5,000 for each noisy compressor site, the county now charges $2,500. County planners must process permits quickly.
"In no way have we ever held them up, and up to this point, we've never turned one down," the planning director said.
Back in Juneau, Kohring introduced his bill on Jan. 29. It passed through the House in days.
Moved to the Senate, it landed in the Senate Resources Committee, chaired by Sen. Scott Ogan, a Republican who represents rural Mat-Su and Chugiak. As a House member, Ogan co-wrote House Bill 394, in 1996 creating the state's shallow gas program and setting the stage for HB 69.
Ogan, a cabinetmaker by trade, is also a consultant for Evergreen who earned $57,000 in 2001 and 2002 for public relations and project management work.
Ogan recused himself as chairman of the committee and handed over the bill to a subcommittee chaired by Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River.
The committee worked the bill for several weeks.
State agencies -- the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation, and the oil and gas commission -- provided technical guidance, said Wes Keller, Dyson's aide.
Dyson and Keller also met with Evergreen's Ekstrom, the company's lobbyist from Denver.
Local government control was one of "about 20" issues that came up during that meeting, Keller said.
Ekstrom told the men he wanted clarification in the bill to make sure Evergreen didn't get "jerked around" by local governments after the state approved a drilling permit, Keller said. "He wanted some kind of assurance just to define the lines of who has authority."
Ekstrom, contacted by phone this week at the company's Denver headquarters, said he didn't remember that conversation, but did say that he generally approved of the sort of guarantee Keller mentioned.
"That certainly, on the surface, is a good idea," Ekstrom said.
HOUSE BILL 69
In March, a new version of House Bill 69 surfaced in committee. This version barred any local governments except first-class cities -- effectively cutting out the Mat-Su Borough -- from regulating coal bed methane at all.
The change got the attention of the Alaska Municipal League and the borough. By the end of April, a new locally endorsed compromise gave the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources the authority to pre-empt local authority only if they demonstrate an "overriding state interest" and issue specific findings explaining the decision.
House Bill 69 became effective June 7. Among other things, the law:
• Reduces public notice requirements to the minimum -- from sending word out to local governments, tribes and other interested parties to one day in a statewide and a local newspaper, plus a posting on agency Web sites -- and allows the AOGCC to approve variances for single wells with no public notice or hearing. The DNR has since decided to broaden public notice using its own authority.
• Gives state agencies the authority to draw up new rules for shallow gas development. Evergreen officials blame the controversy they're encountering on the lack of specific state laws governing shallow gas.
• Requires an oil spill plan only if a significant volume of oil is expected to be encountered during shallow gas drilling.
• Codifies the state's authority to pre-empt local government.
Despite the compromise from the March version of the bill, Mat-Su Assemblywoman Mary Kvalheim balked when asked what the borough can do today to regulate coal bed methane.
"We can pass an ordinance that can be overridden," Kvalheim said. "Seriously. That's the truth."
Regardless, borough officials are starting to research some kind of regulations based on ordinances adopted in other areas, Mat-Su Assemblyman Jim Colver said.
Evergreen's role in the new law's creation conflicts with the good-neighbor face the company shows in public, Colver said.
Evergreen already operates two clusters of pilot wells between Wasilla and Houston, where officials say the locals have no complaints. Brush screens drilling pads; some landowners even call Evergreen asking them to drill, Tanigawa said recently.
The Houston City Council earlier this year even took the unusual step of waiving its conditional use permit process for shallow gas wells.
The Houston Chamber of Commerce asked the council to cede its authority to the state after Evergreen balked at drilling new area wells because of the cumbersome local permits, said Robert Hall, a chamber official who owns Gorilla Fireworks and two other Parks Highway fireworks stands.
"We felt so comfortable with not only Evergreen's process but with the state DNR that we felt we could just do away with it, with the caveat if they messed up we could put it back in," Hall said.
But Colver said that Evergreen's efforts to sidestep local governments, first in Colorado and now in Alaska, doesn't match their rhetoric.
"That's a bad-faith way to do business in a community when you've been trying to put this happy face on what a wonderful company you are," he said.
The legislators involved, and company officials, defend Evergreen's role in the bill as standard practice.
It's not unusual for big oil and other resource companies to bend legislators' ears, industry and environmental lobbyists say. Environmental groups and other special interests do it too.
"There isn't anybody that I know of that has a bill moving through the legislature that doesn't get involved in it," Evergreen's Ekstrom said. "What people like me do is explain the law of unintended consequences, 'Here's something that's likely to happen if you don't exercise caution in framing this.' "
But few regular citizens get the kind of access the Legislature afforded Evergreen, pointed out Randy Virgin, executive director of the Alaska Center for the Environment.
"The industry wasn't just involved, the industry was in the driver seat," Virgin said. "There's a line there. They crossed it."
Daily News reporter Zaz Hollander can be reached at zhollander@adn.com.
Dear Straight Talk readers,
>
> Here is some information that I presented at the Lazy Mountain
Community
> Council last night, which I would like to share with those of
you who
> were not there. I hope you find this helpful.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Scott Ogan
>
>
> SENATOR SCOTT OGAN 23RD Alaska State Legislature
Senate District H Lazy Mountain * Butte * Chugiak *
Peters Creek *
Fairview Loop
Knik-Goose Bay * Big Lake * Houston * Willow *
Talkeetna *
Trapper Creek
State Capitol, Room 103, Juneau Alaska 99801 * (907) 376-4866
* Fax (907)
373-4724
Senator_Scott_Ogan@legis.state.ak.us
CONTACT: Juneau Legislative Office (907) 465-3878
September 11, 2003
Article VIII of the Alaska Constitution
There has been great interest in the issue of rights of
landowners and the
State's responsibility to develop its resources. A review of
the
constitutional provisions about natural resources should clarify
the issue.
Article VIII is the Natural Resources section of the Alaska
Constitution.
Section 1 of Article VIII is the "Statement of Policy" section,
and it
reads, "It is the policy of the State to encourage the
settlement of its
land and the development of its resources by making them
available for
maximum use consistent with the public interest."
The language in this section is unambiguous about maximum use of
the
resources; however, the phrase ".consistent with the public
interest" is
somewhat subjective. It is generally construed that it is in
the public
interest to make resources available to meet the needs of its
citizens.
This must be balanced against conservation of the resources. In
the case of
natural gas, there are documented shortages expected in the Cook
Inlet
Basin. There is approximately a 10-year supply of gas available
for sixty
percent of the Alaskan population. It is clearly in the public
interest to
ensure our resources are developed to meet the economic, health
and safety
needs of our citizens. The ability of the Commissioner of DNR
to waive
local regulations of shallow gas is simply a codification of
this
constitutional responsibility. The common law doctrine defines
the
subsurface as the dominant estate.
Alaska had the most subsurface ownership reserved to the State
at statehood.
The only land granted fee-simple status is land patented before
statehood
and native land. Fee-simple land is land that the owner retains
both the
surface and subsurface estate. Most of us (myself included)
purchased only
the surface estate.
Section 9 of Article VIII states, "Subject to the provisions of
this
section, the legislature may provide for the sale or grant of
state lands,
or interest therein, and establish sales procedures. All sales
or grants
shall contain such reservations to the State of all resources as
may be
required by Congress or the State and shall provide for access
to these
resources. Reservation of access shall not unnecessarily impair
the owners'
use, prevent the control of trespass, or preclude compensation
for damages."
This section enumerates that the reservation of resources in the
public
domain, and the development of them, is the legislature's
responsibility.
There are further rights of surface owners detailed in the
statutes,
regulations, mitigation measures and unit agreements with
natural resource
operators. In other words, no one is going to drill under your
house.
Congress required the State to retain the subsurface estate and
the U. S.
Attorney General has the duty to take them back if we dispose of
them. This
was part of the Statehood Compact, a compact between the State
and the
Federal government. Some have asked for the ability to buy the
subsurface
under their land. It cannot be done without changing the
Statehood Compact.
(Something not likely to happen in our lifetime.) For those
wishing to
control the subsurface of a split estate, they must either lease
it from the
state or buy fee-simple land.
Section 9 also says that "Reservation of access shall not
unnecessarily
impair." the surface owner's use of their land. What does that
term mean?
In order to develop the subsurface estate, the lessee of the
mineral
interest may not needlessly compromise the surface owner's right
to use of
the surface estate. In other words, only reasonable and
necessary access to
the subsurface is allowed. The surface owner can still enforce
trespass (it
does not become a public right-of-way) and is entitled to
compensation for
damages.
The thought of not owning the subsurface estate of property they
purchased
is understandably troubling to most people. However, those of
us who own
land did not buy it under duress when we signed the contract.
We contracted
to the purchase of only the surface estate. In many other
energy-producing
areas of the country, a rancher with fee-simple land receives
the royalty
from subsurface land ownership. However, in Alaska we are all
collectively
ranchers with common ownership of the subsurface resources. The
subsurface
is public domain, subject to lease and development, whether it
is coal,
gold, oil and gas or other minerals. Twenty-five percent of the
royalty
from this public resource is mandated by the Constitution to be
deposited
into the Permanent Fund. In conclusion, while most of us that
own land did
not buy the subsurface estate, we benefit from the collective
subsurface
ownership through the permanent fund dividend. That is why I
will always
defend your dividend. it represents your share of the natural
resources that
we all own.
Web posted Monday, December 2, 2002
Evergreen finishes drilling eight wells in Mat-Su
ANCHORAGE (AP) -- Less than 30 days after starting its first well, the Alaska subsidiary of Evergreen Resources Inc. has finished drilling the eighth and final well in its shallow natural gas exploration project north of Anchorage.
Denver-based Evergreen, a pioneer in producing gas from coal seams, bored two groups of four wells in the 70,000-acre Pioneer unit roughly between Wasilla and Houston.
The first seven wells went 2,600 to 3,700 feet deep and each contained 80 to 100 feet of coal seam, Evergreen President and CEO Mark Sexton said, before results were in for the eighth well.
''That's plenty to work with,'' he told Petroleum News Alaska.
The wells were drilled with Evergreen's own rig. In each test group, a central well is drilled, and three more are added a thousand feet away to the north, southeast and southwest.
Typically, coalbed methane wells produce as much as 95 percent water and just 5 percent natural gas at first, but that ratio can reverse in five years to 95 percent gas and 5 percent water, he said.
The methane, after removing the water, is generally quite pure.
''It could easily be pipeline quality gas coming right from the well head,'' Sexton said. ''It's the leanest, cleanest form of methane.''
Evergreen is planning a nine-month production test. Water rate, gas rate and pressures will be recorded and analyzed to determine if the coals will produce economic quantities of gas.
The Pioneer test will cost about $6 million this winter, Sexton said. The company plans to spend $10 million in Alaska next year.
Evergreen moved its own drill rig to jobs in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Colorado and now Alaska because the company can control the pace of drilling, and the rig works fast.
The air hammer drill can bore 100 feet an hour, and Evergreen crews typically complete each well within 48 hours.
''It's very cost-effective for us to own our own equipment,'' Sexton said.
Coalbed methane production requires a lot of wells. Evergreen has drilled more than 900 wells on its 200,000-acre Raton Basin property in Colorado and has identified 800 additional drilling locations there.
If the Pioneer field proves commercial, it will have a 20- to 30-year production life and could employ as many as 500 people, including contractors, Sexton said.
Evergreen bought the unit from Ocean Energy and Unocal in May 2001. Unocal formed the unit in 1997.
Coal seams in the Cook Inlet basin could contain several trillion cubic feet of gas, enough to double existing reserves in the region, according to Jack Ekstrom, Evergreen director of government and public affairs.
Colorado company drilling for methane in Mat-Su
Wasilla, Alaska, May 22, 2003 - A Colorado company is exploring for natural gas in the Mat-Su Valley coal beds. The environmental community is worried about the impact, but the company has a very connected consultant that it’s paying thousands of dollars.
On more than 70,000 acres near Wasilla and Houston, Evergreen Resources is hunting for methane gas. The company thinks a trillion cubic feet of gas could be lying relatively close to the surface, among the coal beds.
“A very nice additional supply for the Anchorage area and Wasilla and the communities surrounding the Cook Inlet,” says Mark Sexton, Evergreeen Resources’ chief executive officer. His company is the number one holder of methane gas leases in Alaska, and also the top driller for coal-bed methane in Colorado.
But Gwen Lachelt of Durango, Colo. is not so sanguine about methane gas development. She’s executive director of the Oil and Gas Accountability Project, and she’s in Alaska to warn people how coal-bed methane gas drilling can impact the state.
Her nonprofit group monitors the oil and gas industry. “Coal-bed methane development can have pretty far-reaching impacts,” Lachelt says. She warns of the potential for clusters of drill pads, the dumping of contaminated well water and annoying drill noise.
But Evergreen insists it mostly uses quiet electric motors, puts cement basins at the wellheads to catch spills, and reinjects the well water in its facilities.
The company has another voice of support -- Palmer Sen. Scott Ogan, head of the Senate Resources Committee. He has accepted nearly $60,000 from Evergreen over the past two years in consulting fees, and he’s shown in the company’s annual report posing with its executives.
“Generally, we follow his advice on the best way to deal with the landowners and communities and the best way to be a good citizen,” says Sexton.
It likely didn’t hurt Evergreen to have Ogan's support on a bill that passed the Legislature on Friday. The measure will give the state most of the power in making local land use decisions on coal-bed methane drilling, and mostly remove the say of local jurisdictions.
Asked if it couldn’t have found a consultant that didn’t also have a political role, Sexton paused and said, “Scott showed the most interest and he’s a good representative of Alaska, and he has the state of Alaska and his constituents as his primary concern.”
Lachelt doesn’t find the relationship unusual. “We have found, in just about every state that we work in, that conflict of interest is a major issue,” she said. She acknowledges she hasn’t heard of any major problems with Evergreen’s 900 coal-bed methane operations in Colorado. But the company says there hasn’t been one dissatisfied landholder in Alaska so far during drilling negotiations.
Lachelt and the Alaskans hope it will continue to go smoothly, as Alaska and the Colorado firm try to tap into a valuable resource near Wasilla.
Evergreen said Sen. Ogan’s consulting contract is, in part, for public relations. Rep. Ogan did not want to go on camera, but he did say off-camera that as long as legislatures are made up of private citizens, there will always be conflicts.
Ogan is a cabinet-maker by trade, and he took the consulting position in 2001 while a representative in the Legislature.
by Daniel Bergen
Channel 2 News - Aug. 18, 2003
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Previous Page
|
Prospect of methane gas wells worries Sutton
Sutton, Alaska, Aug. 18, 2003 - People living near the small town of Sutton, just north of Palmer, fear that a Colorado company’s search for methane gas could change their way of life.
Residents met Monday night to hear about a plan to drill shallow gas wells in their area.
By 6 p.m., the parking lot was already completely full and people were filing into Sutton Elementary School for what was expected to be a very emotional meeting.
About 800 people live in the community, located some 10 miles up the Glenn Highway from Palmer, a beautiful area bordered by the Talkeetna Mountains and the Matanuska River.
Evergreen Resources of Colorado is asking the state to approve three-year shallow gas leases on nearly 57,000 acres near the town.
Lynne Woods has lived near Sutton since 1952, and she fears the gas drilling could change the scenery in the area -- too many wells, pipes and gravel roads. She also worries it might affect the drinking water for residents.
“If you ever drank a glass of water from here, you’d realize how lucky and how fortunate we feel to have such delicious water,” she says. “I would like to ensure any sort of development doesn’t risk affecting that quality of water.”
A spokesman for Denver-based Evergreen Resources Inc. said Monday's meeting was premature, since the company has no definite plans for the Sutton area.
“We at Evergreen have a terrific record of operations in Southern Colorado,” said Jack Ekstrom, the firm's public relations manager. “We are very careful with surface owners and land owners. We work in cooperation with them all the time. I don’t really understand what this has to do with us, but I think the public should be involved where the public wants to be involved.”
The Sutton Community Council hosted Monday's meeting, which was scheduled to include officials from the state Department of Natural Resources, Randy Ruedrich of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and Matanuska-Susitna Borough officials. But no decisions were made at the meeting, which was simply designed as a public forum. No company representative was invited.
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Channel 2 News - Aug. 27, 2003 Previous Page
Sutton residents confront governor on methane issue
Palmer, Alaska, Aug. 27, 2003 - Gov. Frank Murkowski faced off Wednesday with several protesting homeowners in the Valley. They confronted the governor before he spoke at the Palmer Chamber of Commerce.
Evergreen Resources, a company based in Colorado, wants to drill some shallow gas wells in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough near Sutton, Palmer and Wasilla. Many residents aren’t happy about it.
Waiting outside the Palmer Moose Lodge around noon were homeowners from Palmer, Wasilla, Sutton and Lazy Mountain. Frustrated with state government and what appears to be its support of shallow well gas-drilling in their neighborhoods, many people carried protest signs: “This land for lease,” “Property rights under siege,” “Drill at Frank’s house first” and “Scott sold out.”
They seem especially upset with their own Sen. Scott Ogan, who was a no-show at a standing-room-only meeting last week in Sutton about the potential drilling.
Why wasn’t Sen. Ogan there? He’s a paid consultant for Evergreen Resources, which wants to lease 57,000 acres in the Mat-Su area and drill for methane trapped in coal beds.
“Your representative, your senator is being paid more by the industry that stands to benefit from the gas coming out from underneath your home than he’s being paid by you or by the state,” said Chris Whittington-Evans.
Sen. Ogan would not take questions about the potential conflict of interest, or why he’s represented Evergreen at community council meetings while so many of his constituents oppose the company’s efforts to drill.
“Not only might their homes be drilled under through this program, which he’s very much helped grease the wheels for, but the fact that their neighbor, a person whom they considered a friend in some cases, has kind of betrayed them,” said Whittington-Evans.
The people protesting outside the Palmer Moose Lodge were hoping to reach the governor, since they say they’ve gotten no help from their own legislators.
In fact, Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla, pushed a law through this year diminishing local authority when it comes to preventing such drilling.
“There’s many safeguards put in place in my mind,” Kohring said.
As for why he felt the need for a bill to usurp local authority, he said, “I just think that it’s important that we streamline the process that enables developers to develop these resources.”
Kohring recently wrote an opinion piece for a newspaper, comparing Alaska to the Soviet Union, decrying big government and saying the state is becoming more and more socialistic.
Wednesday, the governor greeted the protestors outside, then addressed the drilling issue during his speech to the chamber.
“This is a legitimate concern,” he said. “I appreciate it. I recognize it. I’m glad it was brought to our attention. I can assure you -- and I think I speak for the Legislature, as well -- that no individual is going to have his surface rights compromised without some due process.”
Gov. Murkowski did sign the bill that Rep. Kohring pushed through, usurping local authority when it comes to stopping this kind of drilling.
Evergreen Resources says it pays Sen. Ogan $40,000 for, among other things, public relations work. Apparently he’s a spokesman for the company but he would not talk to us about the issue.
Property owners generally think that buying a piece of land allows them full use of that land. However, according to state law, there’s something called “subsurface rights,” which means that you do not have full rights to the minerals under your property. That’s why, many residents say, they want local control over this issue, rather than having someone in Juneau deciding what’s going to happen in their neighborhood -- or perhaps right under their house.
by Dan Fagan
Coal-bed gas law trumps local rules
DRILLING: Legislation allows Department of Natural Resources to bypass local governments.
By TOM KIZZIA
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: May 16, 2003)
Sens. Scott Ogan, R-Palmer, right, and John Cowdery, R-Anchorage, discuss a bill during a break on Thursday. Ogan has had to distance himself from the shallow-gas legislation because he consults for Evergreen, a holder of shallow-gas leases. (Photo by AL GRILLO / The Associated Press)
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Click on photo to enlarge
The state is eager to encourage the new industry of coal-bed gas drilling in Alaska. So eager that the Legislature just passed a law telling local governments not to get in the way.
The legislation, approved last week, says local land-use regulations can't be imposed on companies tapping coal beds for methane if the state Department of Natural Resources can demonstrate an "overriding state interest" in the gas development.
The precedent-setting standard would apply only to drilling for shallow coal-bed gas, a promising technology that has stirred some big local controversies in the Lower 48. However, the law's sponsor says he thinks it could apply to oil, mining and other resource development projects as well.
"The point is to make it easier for us to develop those resources by cutting out a second level of government," said Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla. Evergreen Resources, a Denver-based company currently probing coal seams several thousand feet beneath the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, said it wanted to avoid the kinds of obstacles it has encountered in Colorado.
Similar questions about local interference with resource development were raised this week as lawmakers voted to limit community input to the state's Coastal Management Program. The measure, House Bill 191, finally passed in the Senate on Wednesday night on a narrow 11-9 vote.
The coastal measure originally proposed by Gov. Frank Murkowski would have cut local districts out of most resource decisions, centralizing power with the state. The bill was amended to allow districts to argue their way back to the table, case by case. Rural districts aren't happy, saying that changes may be necessary but that these changes were rushed through without the districts' being consulted.
"We still don't feel the local voice has been adequately preserved," said Dan Bevington, who manages the coastal program for the pro-development Kenai Peninsula Borough.
This clash between two Republican principles -- aversion to big-government swagger and enthusiasm for resource development -- is presenting some majority legislators with a philosophical dilemma this year.
"I wish there was never a conflict between principles, but this is certainly one of them," said Sen. Fred Dyson, R-Eagle River. He said it reminds him of his days on the Anchorage Assembly, when government sometimes had to condemn private land to build a necessary road. "It makes quasi-libertarians like me uncomfortable."
Dyson nevertheless played a key role in the shallow-gas bill, HB 69, as chairman of a resources subcommittee that decided to restrict local government.
The chairman of the Senate Resources Committee, Sen. Scott Ogan, R-Palmer, distanced himself because he has a consulting contract with Evergreen, the primary holder of shallow-gas leases in Alaska. Ogan was paid $40,000 by Evergreen in 2002, according to his latest conflict of interest statement.
Democrats say the majority Republicans are going too far in their effort to streamline permitting of resource projects.
"People are thinking philosophically that it costs less money to centralize things. But that's not an Alaskan way of thinking," said Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau.
Environmentalists like the fact that local groups can apply brakes to projects they consider wrongheaded. But they argue that people most affected by new developments often have constructive roles to play in making projects better.
"Sometimes local people are the ones who can guide development in the most effective way," said Matt Davidson, a lobbyist for the Alaska Conservation Voters. "It's not always just 'Not in my back yard.' "
But Republicans say the state's new authority to override local government is written in the constitution. In any event, they say, the power would likely be used rarely, if at all. If the state doesn't need to intervene, Dyson said, local rules will still apply.
"It clarifies something that's already in the constitution. The state has primacy over development of natural resources," Kohring said. "That's not to say the state would just run roughshod over local governments."
In drafting this year's coal-bed gas law, Republican leaders appeared to resolve any misgivings by trusting the state to use its new power responsibly.
The bill started out as a way to adapt state regulations to a new industry, developed over the past two decades.
It's old news that methane gas is trapped in coal seams. The canary in the coal mine was a real bird, not a proverb, carried underground to see if the air was safe for miners. But now companies have found cheap ways to tap those underground seams from the surface and extract large volumes of water, freeing gas to rise up their pipes.
The industry has spread in the Rocky Mountains West. In Alaska, shallow bed exploration has gotten under way only since 1997. State officials say coal seams in the Cook Inlet basin could contribute significantly to local natural gas supplies. They also hold out hope of small gas developments in rural villages providing a clean local alternative to diesel fuels, though the economics of such operations are still untested.
Evergreen Resources has leases on 72,000 acres in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, in the Wasilla-Houston-Big Lake area, and another 330,000 acres around Delta Junction. Eight test wells have been drilled in Mat-Su. Company officials have said they hope to begin production by the end of this year if further tests pan out.
This year's shallow-gas legislation was originally aimed at relieving private companies of having to get permits under rules written for deep, high-pressure gas wells. Shallow gas wells are more like water wells and produce little drilling waste, sponsors said. The bill allowed the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to waive the normal rules and write new ones if necessary.
That bill passed in the House 38-0.
"No one wants to vote against economic development in this climate," said conservation lobbyist Davidson.
In the Senate, the bill was then referred to Ogan's committee on resources.
Ogan is a cabinetmaker by trade, but for the past two years he has also listed on his disclosure forms a consulting contract with Evergreen for public relations, project management, and introducing the company to local business leaders. Ogan was helpful in sharing his institutional knowledge of the area, said Jack Ekstrom, Evergreen's director of public relations.
Ogan's disclosure forms reported earnings of $17,000 from Evergreen in 2001 and $40,000 last year.
Ogan, who was chairman of the House Oil and Gas Committee before being elected to the Senate last year, noted on the form last year that he was forbidden to represent the company before the state. When the shallow-gas bill came before his committee recently, he handed off the chairman's gavel but took part in the discussion as a committee member.
Ogan did not return phone calls this week for comment on his involvement with Evergreen. In the past he has told reporters he sees no conflict, likening his situation to a commercial fisherman being chairman of a fisheries committee.
The resources subcommittee, led by Dyson, added the clause overriding local government control.
That move came as a surprise to Matanuska-Susitna Borough Manager John Duffy, who said he thought the borough had a good working relationship with Evergreen. No environmental complaints had been raised over Evergreen's exploration and the borough had little zoning authority over the operation, he said.
The local government measure, requested by Evergreen, turned out to have more to do with environmental battles in the Lower 48 -- and the prospect of such battles moving north.
Kohring's sponsor statement said coal-bed methane development "has little effect on the environment." But in states such as New Mexico and Wyoming, angry neighbors and lawsuits have been the stuff of headlines for years.
Environmental concerns include the sprawl of wellheads, pipelines, roads and noisy compressors across the open scenery of the West.
The most widespread complaints involve disposal of wastewater pumped up from underground aquifers to free the gas. Sometimes it provides ranchers with good water for livestock. Other times the water is loaded with salt or causes erosion. Lawsuits have been filed and communities polarized over household wells tainted or gone dry.
Earlier this month, a coalition of ranchers and environmentalists sued the federal Bureau of Land Management over plans for developing 39,000 shallow-gas wells on 8 million acres in Wyoming's Powder River basin.
At the local government level, several Colorado counties have imposed temporary bans on shallow-gas projects. Earlier this year, Colorado revised its shallow-gas permit process to expand the role played by counties in the permit process, according to the Rocky Mountain News.
Evergreen's Ekstrom said companies in Colorado have faced $10,000-per-well local fees and onerous rules imposed merely to discourage development. He said he expected no similar problems would erupt in rural Alaska but said the state should have a way to deal with them if they did.
"We thought that was necessary because we've had that experience down here," Ekstrom said of the pre-emption provision for Alaska. "I view this as a preventive measure."
The first Senate draft of the bill broadly forbade municipalities from interfering with state decisions over shallow gas development.
"That raised my eyebrows, being a former mayor," said Sarah Palin, a conservative Murkowski appointee to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Palin's new job includes regulating the shallow-gas industry, but she said as the former mayor of Wasilla she knew the brush-off to local governments would not go over well.
"I warned them," she said. "The local municipality is going to want to have control, and local citizens are going to want to have a say in this."
Working with the Alaska Municipal League, the resources committee added a requirement that the commissioner of Natural Resources must issue a finding of overriding state interest before pre-empting local laws. Palin said the change satisfied her.
"This one in essence still allows the door to be open for a municipality to go in and argue the case," said municipal league head Kevin Ritchie, who had testified against the earlier draft.
The House rejected the Senate change at first, then relented and approved the new bill 26-11.
Evergreen says it's happy with the Legislature's effort.
A decision later this year to develop in Mat-Su could mean new tax and royalty revenues for the state, along with hundreds of gas wells for the area, assuming a density similar to the Colorado fields. Most likely, Ekstrom said, Evergreen would reinject water drawn from the coal seams into deep wells. Wastewater disposal and cumulative impacts would be issues coming before the AOGCC under the new law, said commission staff engineer Winton Aubert.
Even if the state must someday exert its authority over shallow-gas development, Kohring said, political pressure on future governors will keep bad things from happening.
"The commissioner of natural resources has to exercise discretion and prudence," Kohring said. "So we're not going to see drilling in a schoolyard and somebody's back yard."
Reporter Tom Kizzia can be reached at tkizzia@adn.com or in Homer at 1-907-235-4244.
Copyright © 2003 Anchorage Daily News
BASIS Bill tracking
Natural gas issue fuels flames of debate around the Valley
Frontiersman editorial board
The Valley is puffed up with talk of natural gas, and the debate is only heating up. With the prospect of hunting viable coal-bed methane reserves in the areas surrounding Palmer and Sutton, many Valley residents are just now realizing that land ownership is only skin deep, and that has them worrying about things like water quality and noise pollution.
In Alaska, individual land owners do not own most of their sub-surface mineral rights, and that means any resources below the ground are essentially available to the highest bidder. Because the extraction of coal-bed methane will require infrastructure changes, that has many Valley land owners worrying that they'll be left with a lot of unwanted roads, pumping stations and possibly contaminated water while someone else reaps the economic benefits of the resources on their property.
So far, the major player in the bidding for methane rights is Evergreen Resources, and that at least bodes well for concerned property owners. While resource development can never be achieved without at least some kind of scars, Evergreen appears to take a genuinely conscientious approach. The company has already said it doesn't plan to use some of the harsher chemicals in the extraction process -- including the hydrochloric acid they have used in other places. The process they employ leaves smaller scars on the surface than some others, as well.
It's important to remember that Evergreen can't offer guarantees, however, and once the rights have been purchased, all bets are off. Even some of the milder solutions used to release the gas from coal beds may not be welcome when people's water is concerned. One such solution is soap, and most people would prefer soap solutions flowing out of their tubs and sinks, not in.
Another potential problem is that water has to be pumped out of the ground to release the gas, and the water can't be pumped back in at the same point. It's possible to inject water back into the ground, but it will be done at locations where it supposedly won't become mixed with the usable water table. If the plan works, it simply means the water is lost, and if it doesn't work, it defeats the purpose of moving it from its original location. Another problem is that sometimes re-injected water percolates out -- either to the surface or into the water table.
While there seems to be little people can do about sub-surface mineral rights, more knowledge is always better than less, and public input always leads to decisions that work better for the community. The next meeting on the subject will be Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. at Big Lake Elementary, followed by another meeting Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at Palmer Jr. Middle School. We encourage everyone to attend and have a say on this important issue.
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Valley should take closer look at gas drilling
Spectrum, By Michelle Church
"Trust but verify." Those were the words uttered by former President Ronald Reagan as the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States ended. There is a lot of validity in that small statement. Trust but verify is the basis of good government regulation and oversight. Trust that an enterprise undertaking a potentially damaging activity will do what they say to minimize risk. Verify that necessary steps to reduce negative impacts are in fact being taken.
The raging debate over coal bed methane extraction in the Mat-Su Borough is an example of how our state government is not only failing to provide necessary oversight but is taking active steps to remove public notice, public process and regulatory oversight designed to protect local citizen interests.
Friends of Mat-Su (FoMS) is an organization that supports responsible development. Coal bed methane is an industry that can provide jobs and a local source of energy for a community if done responsibly. However, mining of coal bed methane is not without risk. In fact the risks are significant. Communities in Montana are waking up to the reality of loss of water and interruption of their way of life. (See State of Montana Cost/Benefit Analysis at www.deq.state.mt.us/CoalBedMethane/CBMBenefitCost.htm) Many of FoMS' members are growing more and more concerned about the lack of state requirements and regulations to ensure that methane is extracted in a safe manner, that our water resources are not damaged by the mining, and that our communities are not left poorer as a result of this industry.
Activities of our state legislators during the past two years are a major source of the growing alarm over this issue. Mat-Su legislators have quietly pushed through bills that diminish requirements for public process, reduced regulatory oversight to a minimum and most regrettably have allowed for local control through local government regulations to be overturned if the state deems it "beneficial" to do so. How "beneficial" will be defined is subject to the Oil and Gas Commission and the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources. The Oil and Gas Commission is a politically appointed board of individuals active in the pro-development Republican Party. There are members of this board who have no background or qualification for judging appropriate methane development, yet decisions on the appropriateness and safety of drilling is left in their partisan hands. There is no balance on the board due to a glaring lack of commitment and understanding of conservation and environmental needs. The Murkowski administration, judging from actions taken since the election, views nonrenewable resources as the only potential revenue source for the state. Environmental concerns are second to the needs of the oil and gas industry.
Further reducing public confidence and trust lies in the fact that Senator Scott Ogan, who is the incoming chair of the Energy Council, is also a paid lobbyist for Evergreen Resources, the company who will produce the first coal bed methane wells in Mat-Su. Mr. Ogan receives a salary from Evergreen Resources in excess of his legislative salary. The bills he co-sponsored and voted in favor of on the senate floor are of direct benefit to Evergreen Resources as well as other companies that will come in to drill for coal bed methane. There is serious question of whether the public's interests are foremost in Mr. Ogan's mind when he receives a paycheck from the industry he is greasing regulatory skids for.
Mr. Ogan has no formal training or education in either geology, petrology or oil and gas processes. It is certainly arguable that his value to Evergreen Resources lies in his position in the Senate and his willingness to sponsor bills that are beneficial to the industry. The glaring appearance of conflict of interest sours the public's ability to feel secure in these changes in regulatory and public notification processes coming out of this administration.
Without proper regulation and oversight, the potential long-term costs to the community far outweigh any of the potential short-term gains that might be experienced. There is no mechanism for a cost/benefit analysis under the rules now in place for coal bed methane extraction. Senators Scott Ogan and Lyda Green, Representatives Kohring, Masek, Gatto and Stoltze, judging by their voting records, are far more motivated to secure protection for the oil and gas developers from that nasty public process than they are to protect their constituents from potential permanent damage to water and lifestyle.
There are currently two public meetings to address this important issue. A meeting will be held from 6-9 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 8, at Big Lake Elementary School, and a second meeting will be held from 6-9 p.m. at Palmer Junior Middle School on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
As a community, we must demand that development in our neighborhoods is done responsibly. Our community leaders are failing us in this regard. As individuals in our communities, we are left to take this on. If you would like more information, contact Friends of Mat-Su (FoMS) at 746-0130.
Michelle Church is the former director of Friends of Mat-Su. She lives in the core area.
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Senator was a no-show
By RINDI WHITE-Frontiersman reporter
PALMER -- About 30 Valley residents and staff from three news organizations turned out on Labor Day to hear Sen. Scott Ogan make an announcement about his employment with Evergreen Resources Corp. and address questions relating to a perceived conflict of interest in his work for the company.
But Ogan didn't show. A member of his staff told those gathered the event had been canceled Sunday, took names and numbers at the meeting, but wasn't able to provide a reason for the cancellation. In an e-mail sent Monday, Ogan wrote: "My staff told me that some of the press was not happy about being there on a holiday so we canceled."
Those who showed up for the press conference weren't happy about being snubbed, or about losing a chance to take Ogan, who has represented the Palmer area for the past nine years, to task for his involvement with a company that now holds thousands of acres of leases to explore subsurface mineral rights from Sutton to Willow.
"What I was hoping to hear is how Scott Ogan can say he's representing us," Lazy Mountain resident David Holladay said. "He had a job as a legislator to say 'Here are the risks and here are the laws I'm working to pass that are going to protect you.'"
"Who does he work for, us or them?" another Valley resident asked.
Ogan said he wasn't sure who alerted the public of the press conference, but he was only expecting news media to be there.
"I'm kind of wondering why they were there," Ogan said from Texas Wednesday. "It was a press conference. Obviously, somebody in the press wanted to make it more than a press conference."
Ogan is scheduled to speak at the Oct. 1 noon meeting of the Palmer Chamber of Commerce, at the chamber's monthly open meeting.
"I'll be happy to answer questions at that time," Ogan said.
Linda Hay in Ogan's Juneau legislative office said beyond members of the news media, neither information about the meeting nor its cancellation were sent out to the public. The meeting was called Friday afternoon. Hay said after hearing ongoing controversy about his involvement with Evergreen Resources, a Colorado shallow-well natural gas drilling company, Ogan decided to call the press conference to address the issue. Ogan has contracted with Evergreen for the past two years, earning $17,000 in 2001 and $40,000 for 2002, according to legislative financial disclosure statements filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
The legislator, previously a cabinetmaker, provides public relations consulting, project management work and introduces the company to local business leaders, according to information in the forms. He also chairs the Senate Resources Committee and is getting set to become chair later this month of the Energy Council, an international committee made up of legislators from energy-producing states and provinces in North and South America.
Hay said Ogan wanted to hold the press conference before leaving to prepare for upcoming meetings of the Energy Council.
He did send out a press release Tuesday, saying he vowed to "terminate [his] position for Evergreen Resources (Alaska) Corp. if there is any culpable disregard by Evergreen for the health, safety or property rights of [his] constituents." He also cited a portion of Alaska Statute 24.60, which pertains to legislative ethics laws and standards of conduct. Alaska Statute 24.60.010 (4) states "a part-time citizen legislature implies that legislators are expected and permitted to earn outside income and that the rules governing legislators' conduct during and after leaving public service must be clear, fair and as complete as possible ..."
Hay said despite previous reports that the conference was canceled because KTUU reporters weren't able to attend, it was the complaints of several news organizations that drove the cancellation.
"A number of people called to confirm ... and a lot indicated it was not the best day in the world," Hay said.
She said she was called by Ogan at home Sunday to get word out that it had been canceled and she faxed a cancellation notice to everyone on the list of people who had received the initial announcement.
"We were concerned that we wouldn't get to people in time," Hay said.
Upon cancellation Ogan offered to do one-on-one interviews with members of the media. Ogan will return Sunday from Energy Council meetings, then leave again for more meetings on Sept. 17. Hay said members of the public with questions about coal bed methane can attend two upcoming meetings scheduled by the Mat-Su Borough. The first will be held Monday at Big Lake Elementary at 6 p.m. and the second will be held at Palmer Junior Middle School at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. More meetings may follow, she said.
"We are in the process of trying to set up a legislative meeting on the issue," Hay said.
Evergreen is planning to hold some public informational meetings as well. Staff from Evergreen said they plan to hold town hall meetings during the first week of October. Dates are not yet finalized, but more information will be available in the coming weeks.
"I think there are going to be a lot of meetings," Hay said.
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Gov. Frank Murkowski shakes the hand of a young protester Wednesday before proceeding into the Palmer Moose Lodge to address the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce. Below, a dog joined in the protest against shallow-gas drilling. Photo by RINDI WHITE/Frontiersman.
Governor greets protestors
By RINDI WHITE-Frontiersman reporter
PALMER -- About 30 protesters were on hand to greet Gov. Frank Murkowksi when he made an impromptu appearance at the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce Wednesday.
With signs that read "Frank, don't drill in my sandbox" and "property rights under siege," area residents concerned about shallow-gas drilling called out requests for more public input and asked Murkowski when they'd have a voice in decisions regarding sub-surface property rights. Murkowski shook hands with several and invited them inside the Palmer Moose Lodge for lunch.
Natural gas drilling wasn't the only topic the governor spoke on, but he devoted a significant portion of his speech to the topic. According to information from his staff, Murkowski said, a lot of land is up for lease.
"I'm told 30 leases have been issued, covering 127,000 acres. Thirty leases have been approved, covering 102,000 acres. Thirty lease applications are pending, covering 68,000 acres," Murkowski said.
On top of that, he said, 11 wells have been drilled as of Wednesday and four more are ready to be drilled.
"There has been no determination at this time whether there is any commercial viability," Murkowski said. The 11 wells currently held by Colorado-based Evergreen Resources have not yet gone into production.
Much of the leasing and drilling is taking place in the Mat-Su Borough, and property owners across the area have reacted with surprise to find out the subsurface mineral rights on the land they own has been leased -- often without their knowledge. Murkowski assured skeptics that the state carefully monitors development and despite the fact that the state constitution gives the state's sub-surface rights precedence over property rights, a process is in place to allow property owners input in what goes on when the drilling starts.
"Drilling and production operations are regulated by the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission," Murkowski said. "Any application has to provide a suitable bond in favor of the state."
That bond, he said, protects property owners in the event their property is damaged during the drilling process.
He added that property owners needn't worry about toxins from fluids used in the fracturing process. Although harsh chemicals such as hydrochloric acid are used in some places as a fracturing chemical, "the content of [Evergreen's] fracturing fluid is essentially the same things that occur, in all things in the manufacture of chewing gum ... and it's all biodegradable," Murkowski said.
Murkowski said companies found to be using toxins will be confronted by the state. After the meeting, when AOGC Commissioner Randy Reudrich spoke to members of the press and two concerned property owners about the permitting process, he was asked to point out where, in the Department of Natural Resources' regulations, it stipulated what substances are acceptable for use in fracturing fluids. Reudrich, citing a meeting he was late for, left without answering the question. At a previous meeting in Sutton, Reudrich said there were no regulations restricting substances used in fracturing fluids.
Several written questions about drilling were passed forward from the audience to chamber president Stu Graham, who distilled them into one concern -- that not enough public input had been provided before leases were issued.
"It just seems that people aren't at all informed," one protester said outside the lodge. "What we want is for people to be informed."
"My understanding is that the process is continuing," Murkowski said. He deferred to Reudrich, who said new techniques are watched closely -- if a new technique or type of drilling is being done. New techniques automatically receive more review, a hearing and more checks, he said, and he reiterated that DNR does follow a comment period for leases.
When protester Robin McLean, after the meeting, suggested to Reudrich that progress on the leases stop and return to the public process, Reudrich said the permitting procedure has moved forward, and DNR followed its procedures pertaining to noticing the lease permits. Advertisements were placed in area papers and on the department's Web site, he said, and sent to community councils and other groups in the area. McLean challenged Reudrich's assertion that the public process had been followed, citing information from DNR staff that notices were never sent to several community councils in the area of the drilling leases. She suggested the leases be revoked and the process be taken back to the public comment phase, with notices sent to individual landowners in the affected areas.
"The public process is very important," Reudrich said, "but the public process moves forward to the next step."
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