Joint Committee Committee on Joint Agriculture and Natural Resources (04/18/2012)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

COMMITTEE ON JOINT AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Date:	04/18/2012	ATTENDANCE

Time:	07:37 AM to 09:01 AM	Baumgardner	E
		Brophy	X
Place:	HCR 0107	Brown	X
		Carroll	E
This Meeting was called to order by		Coram	X
	Representative Sonnenberg	Fischer	X
		Giron	X
This Report was prepared by		Grantham	X
	David Beaujon	Harvey	E
		Jones	X
		Looper	E
		McKinley	E
		Ryden	X
		Scott	E
		Tochtrop	E
		Vaad	X
		Vigil	E
		Wilson	X
		Sonnenberg	X
		Schwartz	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Water Management and Oil and Gas		Briefing only

07:37 AM -- Water Management and Oil and Gas

Pam Roth, WPX Energy, introduced the presenters and discussed the purpose of the briefing.

07:40 AM

Tisha Schuller, Executive Director, Colorado Oil and Gas Association, described efforts to minimize the impact of oil and gas development on other water users and identified the geologic formations that contain oil and gas and ground water (Attachment A). She also discussed methods to protect ground water supplies from oil and gas development including cementing and casing of well bores. She identified the amount of water used for hydraulic fracturing in 2010 as compared with the total water use in Colorado. She also identified studies conducted to assess the impact of oil and gas development on ground water resources.

07:48 AM - Gas Development and Water Use in the Piceance Basin

Tyler Bitner, WPX Energy, discussed gas development in the Piceance Basin in northwest Colorado and identified measures to protect ground water resources (Attachment B). He discussed water that is produced during the mineral development process, called produced water, and explained how this water is disposed. He described efforts to manage produced water to reduce disposal and transportation costs. He also discussed remote hydraulic fracturing of geologic formations, also known as "fracing," and how it minimizes surface impacts and reduces well development costs. He identified state agencies that regulate gas development facilities.

08:09 AM -- Gas Development in the San Juan Basin

Dave Brown, BP, described gas development in the San Juan Basin in southwest Colorado and identified measures to protect ground water resources (Attachment C). He explained how water-bearing coal beds are dewatered to increase gas production and how this produced water is disposed. He also identified federal and state agencies that oversee gas development in the San Juan Basin including the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He responded to questions from the committee about the geologic layers that are used for produced water disposal.

08:24 AM -- Gas Development in the Wattenberg Formation

Jon Jaffe, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, described oil and gas development in the Wattenberg formation in northeast Colorado and the use of water in the hydraulic fracturing process (Attachment D). He also identified measures to reduce truck traffic by using a pipeline to bring water to well development sites and measures to reduce water use in the development process. He also responded to questions about the oil and gas bearing formations in the Wattenberg formation and how it compares to the formations in the Piceance Basin.

08:32 AM -- Gas Development in the Raton Basin

Gerald Jacob, Pioneer Natural Resources, described gas development and water use in the Raton Basin in southern Colorado (Attachment E). He described methods to protect ground water supplies and the disposal of produced water. He also described the regulation of produced water disposal by the COGCC and the Water Quality Control Division. He responded to questions from the committee about changes in state water quality regulations and how it will affect discharge of produced water into surface streams.

08:46 AM -- Questions and Answers

Mr. Jaffe responded to questions from the committee about oil and gas development and recycling of produced water in Arapaho County.

08:49 AM

Ms. Roth, responded to questions from the committee about voluntary monitoring of ground water by oil and gas developers.

08:51 AM

Ken Wonstolen, Colorado Oil and Gas Association, responded to questions from the committee about voluntary monitoring of ground water by oil and gas developers.

08:52 AM

Mr. Bitner responded to questions from the committee about air quality monitoring in the Piceance Basin.

08:54 AM -- Oversight of Oil and Gas Development by the Department of Public Health and Environment

Kent Kuster, Oil and Gas Liaison, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), described the regulation of air and water quality impacts related to oil and gas development by the CDPHE and the COGCC (Attachment F).

09:01 AM

The committee adjourned.