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Montana board imposes moratorium on new coalbed wells Injunction sought against issuance of permits without study of environmental effects; concern over surface discharge of water by The Associated Press
The Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation has declared a moratorium on new drilling permits for coalbed methane wells in the Powder River Basin pending a judge’s decision on an injunction.
The board voted for the suspension April 5, upon the recommendation of board attorney Don Garrity of Helena. Garrity said the suspension will avoid the possibility of a restraining order.
The Northern Plains Resource Council has filed a lawsuit accusing the board of violating the Montana Environmental Policy Act by issuing methane gas permits without studying the environmental effects.
The council has sought an injunction against new permits. A hearing on that request may occur within the next two weeks, Garrity said.
Coalbed methane is a form of natural gas that is in demand as a clean-burning fuel and is found in coal seams. Held in place by water pressure, methane is released by placing wells at regular intervals over a large area and continuously pumping out the groundwater.
Methane development is booming in Wyoming and beginning in southeastern Montana’s Powder River Basin. But the Northern Plains Resource Council wants drilling permits halted until a regionwide environmental study is competed.
Although the board has not yet responded to the lawsuit, Garrity said he thought the board’s 1989 environmental review of oil and gas drilling, which includes gas wells that produce water, was adequate.
Groundwater typically discharged to surface However, he added, the groundwater from methane wells typically is discharged to the surface rather than reinjected, and that may bring it under the jurisdiction of the Montana Environmental Quality Department.
One view is that the current level of methane development may not be so much of a problem, but that if the board goes on permitting wells without a full environmental review, “we’ll do all sorts of serious damage, which may or may not be true,” Garrity said. “I think the reality is there will be an environmental study of this question.”
Garrity said he hopes that as the lawsuit develops, Redstone Gas Partners, a Denver-based company that so far is the primary developer of methane wells in Montana, will be allowed to continue operating its existing wells.
Redstone officials attending the April 5 meeting said the company would intervene in the Northern Plains Resource Council lawsuit. Redstone has a “vital interest in any settlement that would affect our rights,” said company attorney Rebecca Watson of Helena.
Redstone has 123 producing wells in the Decker area and has been permitted for up to 250 wells for a pilot project. An environmental assessment of the pilot project is expected to be released by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management early next month.
Twenty-one permits are pending before the board; nine of them are Redstone’s.
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