DEC finds it can regulate coalbed methane exploration, development

The Associated Press

State of Alaska environmental health officials say they have the authority to regulate coalbed methane exploration and development, reversing a previous position.

Kristin Ryan, an official with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said as a result of asking Evergreen Resources for its waste disposal records from drilling the company did on its leases in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, DEC has discovered that drilling waste dumped last summer contains elevated, but not dangerous, levels of heavy metals and salt.

Evergreen’s decision to bury drilling mud last summer — under an oral agreement with the state — won’t happen again without more state oversight.

From now on, Ryan said, the state probably will require operators to reinject wastewater thousands of feet below drinking water — as Evergreen has done on its own — and also submit tests before it dumps solid wastes.

Corri Feige, Evergreen’s Alaska spokeswoman, said the company will comply with whatever requirements the state develops in light of its 50-page analysis of the dumped waste, turned over to DEC officials Dec. 4.

“Because (coalbed methane) is so new in Alaska, things like this document give the agencies an opportunity to clarify their operating regulations,” Feige told the Anchorage Daily News.

The confusion over state authority stems from legislation adopted in 1995, long before Evergreen drilled its first well. The bill exempted coalbed methane operators from the requirement of a state permit before disposing waste created during exploratory drilling.