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"Methane gas producers, they say, should have well permits and a plan
for replacing water taken in the course of their work.
Otherwise, the extraction of water during gas drilling could dry up
wells, contaminate ground water or result in flammable tap water,
according to the lawsuit, filed Nov. 21 in District Court in Durango.
Methane-gas producers dispose of water extracted from coal seams in
deep wells or evaporation ponds. Water is extracted to free methane gas
from the coal-bed.
No one from the state Attorney General's Office answered requests for
comment."
Ranchers: Gas drilling, water don't mix
December 2, 2005
By Dale Rodebaugh | Herald Staff Writer
A lawsuit by two ranching families in the heart of coal-bed methane gas
country east of Durango could require gas-extracting companies
statewide to protect the water rights of others.
The plaintiffs - Jim and Terry Fitzgerald in La Plata County and Bill
and Beth Vance in Archuleta County - allege that the extraction of
water from coal-bed seams should be subject to the same regulations as
agricultural or sand/gravel operations.
Methane gas producers, they say, should have well permits and a plan
for replacing water taken in the course of their work.
Otherwise, the extraction of water during gas drilling could dry up
wells, contaminate ground water or result in flammable tap water,
according to the lawsuit, filed Nov. 21 in District Court in Durango.
Methane-gas producers dispose of water extracted from coal seams in
deep wells or evaporation ponds. Water is extracted to free methane gas
from the coal-bed.
No one from the state Attorney General's Office answered requests for
comment.
The lawsuit may be the first challenge to coal-bed methane producers
regarding water quantity under Colorado law, according to the
plaintiffs' lawyer, Amy Beatie of the Denver law firm of White &
Jankowski.
Coal-bed methane extraction is different from other oil and gas
development because it can suck dry the water in areas where drilling
occurs, Beatie said.
"In northeast Wyoming where coal-bed methane production is going
gangbusters, there has been a lot of discussion regarding water quality
under the federal Clean Water Act," Beatie said.
The northern San Juan Basin, where the Vances and Fitzgeralds live, is
one of four areas in Colorado with significant coal-bed methane
production.
The couples are suing State Engineer Harold Simpson and Ken Beegles,
who retired Nov. 30 as state Division of Water Resources engineer in
Division 7 in Durango.
"Our clients' rights are lost in a jurisdictional Bermuda Triangle,"
said Sarah Klahn, another White & Jankowski lawyer. She said the
Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission does not have jurisdiction
and the Division of Water Resources refuses to take jurisdiction as
required by statutes.
In a telephone interview, Jim Fitzgerald said he's been battling
coal-bed methane producers for 20 years.
His main concern is energy companies injecting chemical-laced water
under high pressure into coal-bed methane seams to break the gas away
from the coal formation. The spent liquids and subterranean water are
then pumped from underground to be disposed of in deep wells.
U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management environmental studies
conclude that water in methane gas-producing formations in the northern
San Juan Basin is connected to the aquifer and surface-water system and
that disturbances affect the water rights of all water users,
Fitzgerald said.
According to Fitzgerald, the water used by gas companies to free
methane gas qualifies as a beneficial use, one of the requirements for
oversight by the state engineer. The benefit is the production of gas.
"The definition of 'beneficial' is broad in the Colorado Revised
Statutes," Beatie said. "Nowhere does it say that the state engineer
gets to decide what is beneficial."
Even if the water is considered waste water (non-beneficial), the state
engineer has the responsibility of prohibiting its disposal in deep
wells or evaporation ponds because it is connected to other water
sources, Fitzgerald said.
The Fitzgeralds grow vegetables and raise livestock in La Plata County.
The Vances, nearby in Archuleta County, grow hay and raise organic
produce. The ranches are near points where coal seams are near the
surface.
Fitzgerald has one coal-bed methane well on his property, and there are
two gas wells on adjacent property. Now, a gas driller wants to locate
two more wells on his land or adjacent to it, he said.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs ask the court to find that coal-bed
methane wells are subject to the state engineer's well-permit
regulations; ground water used in methane extraction is connected to
other water sources; and water used in the extraction process is a
beneficial use. They ask for costs and fees of the lawsuit, but no
punitive damages.
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