Conservation

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released 90 pages of documents detailing proposed regulations governing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), and it has set the dates for a 30-day public comment period on the proposed rules. The action appeared to signal a long-awaited break in the state’s drilling moratorium.

In an effort to avoid having to restart the process from square one, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will file for a 90-day extension on Thursday to finalize rules governing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).

After resigning earlier this year as Wyoming’s oil/natural gas supervisor after being openly critical of federal environmental regulators (see Shale Daily, June 18), Tom Doll has secured a position as a senior petroleum engineer with the Energy and Environmental Research Center, a nonprofit unit of the University of North Dakota. Doll now works for the center’s oil/natural gas technical group, focusing on reservoir characterization and simulation, geomechanics and providing “operational excellence” for clients. Working remotely from his Wyoming base, Doll also works in emissions control, coal utilization and water management for the Grand Forks, ND-based organization. Wyoming has yet to name a supervisor in its Oil/Gas Conservation Commission to replace Doll.

Boulder County, CO, officials may need to keep in place longer than expected a moratorium on the processing of development plans for oil and gas permits. County Planning Commission members said Wednesday they need more time to complete new regulations meant to address potential public health and environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration in unincorporated areas of the county, according to news reports. In February Boulder County commissioners passed a resolution that placed a moratorium on accepting applications until Feb. 4, 2013. The Planning Commission asked the Board of County Commissioners to extend the moratorium by three to six months. Government officials from around Colorado have challenged the state’s authority to regulate energy operations (see Shale Daily, Sept. 24; Aug. 17). The state maintains exclusive jurisdiction in this area under the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has launched a color-coded interactive map tool that allows the public to view water quality data from more than 450 oil and natural gas drilling sites in the state.

A research team led by the University of Texas at Austin (UT), with input from nine of the nation’s leading natural gas producers and a conservation group, on Wednesday announced they are collaborating on a major field study to measure methane emissions at onshore gas well sites, about which only a handful of empirical data exist.

A land conservation group reached an agreement Friday with Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP) to purchase the company’s oil and natural gas leases on 58,000 acres in the Hoback Basin of the Wyoming Range.

Last month Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joseph Martens said he anticipated an eventual legal challenge to any rules the agency creates for regulating HVHF in the state, and he asked Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to conduct a health impact analysis of the practice (see Shale Daily, Sept. 24). The newspaper said it agreed with the observation by DEC officials and drilling supporters: that Martens’ decision would probably cause enough of a delay to require an additional public comment period (see Shale Daily, Oct. 4; Oct. 2).

Deliberations were scheduled to continue Thursday at the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission (OCC) on proposed industry-prompted modifications to the state’s so-call pit rule for handling natural gas and oil drilling and production waste.