Date: 03/25/2009
Final
Walsenburg Town Meeting on Coal Bed Methane
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK, & NATURAL RESOURCES
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This was an optional meeting of the House Agriculture, Livestock, and Natural Resources Committee held in Walsenburg, Colorado.
02:00 PM -- Walsenburg Town Meeting on Coalbed Methane
Huerfano County Commissioner Art Bobian introduced the House Agriculture Committee and described coalbed methane (CBM) development in the area.
02:03 PM
Representative Curry provided opening remarks and explained that the committee was interested in learning about the issues surrounding coalbed methane development and produced water. She briefly explained a bill, HB 09-1303, that narrowly addresses the number of well permits that will need to be processed by the Division of Water Resources in the Department of Natural Resources.
02:08 PM -- Ken Smith, representing Petroglyph Energy, described the potential benefit of CBM development for the community and gave presentation about coalbed methane development in the Raton Basin (Attachment A).
02:27 PM -- Mr. Smith answered questions from the committee. He discussed the potential impact of a Colorado Supreme Court case (Vance v. Simpson), which has yet to be decided. He also addressed questions related to the environmental and human health impacts of methane.
02:36 PM -- Al Tucker, Huerfano County resident, described his concerns about the impacts of coalbed methane development and produced water on area residents. He also discussed the detrimental impact that coalbed methane development has had on area jobs aside from industry. Mr. Tucker also discussed his views on HB 09-1292 and HB 09-1303. HB 09-1292 continues the rules adopted by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) that implement HB 07-1341 and HB 07-1298.
02:44 PM -- Richard Goodwin, a resident near the town of Walsenburg, described problems he has experienced with coalbed methane development and produced water in the community. He explained how discharged water has changed the landscape and has had adverse impacts on particular dairy farms. He discussed the dynamics that currently exist between the industry and the community and stated that the industry currently lacks the incentive to negotiate.
02:54 PM -- Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Tucker answered questions from the committee.
02:57 PM -- Jerald Jacob, an engineer with Pioneer, gave a presentation about coalbed methane development in Las Animas County. He described how Pioneer cases wells, and the materials and process used to develop methane. He explained how the quality of the produced water varies among different fields. Mr. Jacob discussed the impact of coalbed methane development on the land and to wildlife and how the industry is minimizing this impact. He stated that produced water is not suitable for irrigation and Pioneer has never recommended using the water in this way. He described various ways that Pioneer deals with discharged water and third party monitoring efforts. Mr. Jacob also discussed how the depletion of stream flow in Raton Basin as a result of coalbed methane development has been minimal.
03:18 PM -- Mr. Jacob answered questions from the committee about water testing that will be performed by his company at the request of homeowner.
03:29 PM -- Jim Conley, the Huerfano County Colorado State University Extension Agent, described a working group that was formed to monitor the impact of coalbed methane produced water on agriculture and Huerfano County's water supply.
03:35 PM -- Tony Arnold, representing the National Soil Conservation Service, discussed the variability in the quality of ground water discharged into surface streams. He also described the impact of produced water on soil including the loss of soil structure, crusting low water infiltration, increase run-off and erosion, and stunted plants. Mr. Arnold explained the infiltration rates for control water, upstream water, downstream water, and coalbed methane water. He described the impact of drought on stream flows in Cucharas River and the impact of coalbed methane discharge water. He showed slides of impacted irrigation fields.
03:45 PM
The committee discussed water pollution discharge permits and whether they are conditioned on the stream flow (whether lower pollutant discharges are regulated for lower stream flows). The committee also discussed the Water Quality Control Division's role in regulating coalbed methane discharges.
03:49 PM -- Mr. Arnold described soil salt monitoring. Mr. Conley expressed concern about the current low snow pack and the lack of water to dilute coalbed methane discharges. Mr. Arnold and Mr. Conley responded to questions about the ability to mitigate the salt loading and whether it was too expensive to be feasible.
03:52 PM -- Doug Brgoch, the Water Commissioner for Cucharas River, described how water rights on the Cucharas River are administered and the affect of coalbed methane water discharge on stream flows throughout the growing season. He also explained that discharge permits are based on impacts to human health and do not adequately consider the impact on agriculture and livestock. He responded to questions about the reason that exempt domestic wells in River Ridge and Silver Spur subdivisions have stopped producing and whether its related to coalbed methane production.
04:04 PM -- Loretta Kennedy, staff for Congressman John Salazar, read a letter from Congressman Salazar into the record and explained that he has requested the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a study to determine the impact of produced water on domestic users, irrigators, and other potentially affected persons. The letter also described a meeting attended by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the Division of Water Resources, and other regulatory entities to discuss the USGS study.
04:10 PM -- Representative Curry described the provisions of HB 09-1303 concerning regulation of produced water from mining wells. She explained that the bill does not address water quality impacts and ownership issues of the produced water.
04:12 PM -- Ms. Jytte Hale-Helps, a Huerfano County resident, submitted a letter concerning produced water (Attachment B).
04:14 PM -- Marvin Davis, Davis Ranch, explained that his ranch borders the Cucharas River and described the impact of produced water on the agricultural production, indicating that there has been an approximately 30-50 percent decline in production.
04:16 PM -- Tracy Dahl, North Fork Landowners Association in western Las Animas County, described the impact of gas development on wildlife, rural landowners, and domestic water users. He also discussed the chemicals found in monitoring wells located near gas wells. Mr. Dahl responded to questions about policies to address his concerns including deep injection of produced water.
04:24 PM -- Ruth Luksich, a resident of Las Animas County and an employee of Pioneer whose job is to addresses impacts to surface lands from gas development, described the value of coalbed methane produced water to irrigators and wildlife. She responded to questions about impacts she has seen to irrigated agriculture that diverted produced water.
04:32 PM -- Jesse Manzanares, a retired district judge and resident of Trinidad, expressed concern about certain irresponsible gas developers. He also expressed concern about the dewatering of coalbeds for methane production.
04:38 PM -- Chip Kraynyk, La Veta, Colorado, expressed concern about the impact of produced water on the environment.
04:40 PM -- Jack Ortiz, a resident of Walsenburg and an employee of Pioneer, described training he has received to minimize storm water discharge in the production process.
04:42 PM -- Douglas Taylor, a ranch operator west of Trinidad, explained that he has used produced water to water his livestock since 1995 without any impacts to the health of the animals.
04:47 PM -- Al Bielski, Denver, distributed a handout that showed wells drilled in Raton Basin (Attachment C), and explained that most of the productive gas wells are south of Aguilar in the Raton Basin. He also commented on HB 09-1303.
04:51 PM -- Jack Isreal, an employee of Pioneer, described the concerns Pioneer employees have for the environment.
04:54 PM -- Brett Cosentino, a dairy farmer in Huerfano County, described the detrimental impact to his dairy farm from produced water including stunted crops and health problems with his cattle. He expressed concern about the sodium levels in the produced water and its effect on the ability of soil to absorb water. He explained that the Division of Water Resources said that the produced water should not be used for irrigation. He also responded to questions about the effect of the irrigation water on the quality of feed.
05:10 PM -- Ernie Moltrer, a landowner and contractor in Las Animas County, stated that coalbed methane produced water is drinkable and ponds from discharge points on his property are full of fish.
05:14 PM -- Gary and Karen Salapich, Salapich Ranch, described a situation on their ranch where a well went dry and was redrilled into a coal seem. They explained that the water used from this well has never been a problem for them. They also described how wildlife uses their property. They listed the entities that they have contacted in support of using coalbed methane water, including the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
05:24 PM -- Carla Dolce, Navajo Western Water District, spoke about the need to protect water rights, and questioned whether depletions were affecting the district's water rights. She emphasized that there is not enough information about how produced water affects other water rights. She provided copies of several letters that were written expressing concern about coalbed methane development policies (Attachment D).
05:31 PM -- Tyler Mickeli, Petroleum Engineer for Pioneer, described the process used to protect drinking water. He discussed the quality of materials used by Pioneer and the relationship Pioneer has developed with the community in southern Colorado.
05:35 PM -- Randy Silver, Las Animas County resident, described the need for coalbed methane produced water on their property and explained that rules regulating the use of produced water need to be site specific because of the high degree of variation of water quality from site to site.
05:37 PM -- Tom Verquer, Las Animas County Farm Bureau president and Las Animas County resident, explained the benefits of coalbed methane development as well as some instances where coalbed methane water was too contaminated to be used. He explained that he has met with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment about a study on produced water.
05:42 PM -- Andrew Schultz, Las Animas County resident, spoke about the benefit of coalbed methane produced water and how Pioneer has benefitted the economies of Trinidad and Las Animas County.
05:44 PM -- Kim Pacheco, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce for Las Animas County, spoke about the economic benefits of coalbed methane production. She also spoke about some of the adverse economic impacts to the county economy when production has declined.
05:47 PM -- Warren McDonald, a rancher, described the coalbed methane production and discharge points on his property. He also discussed how wildlife uses his property. He emphasized the uncertainties related to discharged water and the need to study the situation further.
05:53 PM -- C.A. MacMillan expressed his frustration with state government's influence over the coalbed methane industry.
05:57 PM
Representative McKinley thanked everyone for coming and provided some closing comments about the complexities of the regulatory process.
05:59
The meeting adjourned. A DVD recording of this meeting is available for viewing at the Legislative Library (Room 048 of the State Capitol Building) and State Archives (Room 1B20, 1313 Sherman Street, Denver, CO).