Regulation of CBM Ground Water Diversions post-Vance

PROTECTING Water QuaNTITY and QualityColorado Water and Energy Research CenterUniversity of Colorado Law School

November 26, 2012

Alan E. CurtisWhite & Jankowski, LLPImpacts to Quantity Interference with existing aquifers and wells.

Reduction in ground water supplies.

Reduction in surface supplies.

3This is a photograph of property in Huerfano County owned by Ben and Melanie Bounds.

The Bounds have an adjudicated well.

CBM operations by Petroglyph Energy have withdrawn tens of thousands of acre-feet of water from the aquifer causing wells to go dry and gas to enter the wells which is chemically-identical to gas found in the formations Petroglyph is accessing.

Methane gas in the Bounds well caused the well to explode.

On sunny days, you can actually see gas venting through the soil surrounding the Bounds property.

The system shown here is designed to remove gas from the well and vent it so it doesnt explode again.

Ben Bounds built and paid for this system himself. He hopes it works.

4This is another property in Huerfano County where a water well went dry as a result of Petroglyphs operations which are several hundred yards away.

Gas vented from the well like a jet engine.

Petroglyph capped the water well, and installed a PVC pipe to divert the methane gas away from the owners home. The pvc pipe is shown in the lower left hand corner of the photo.

The gas is then vented into the air via the pipe shown in the upper right and corner of the photo.

The gas is vented into the air several feet away from the high voltage box shown in the middle of the photo.

The electric well pump on the Bounds well ignited the gas in the Bounds well causing it to explode.

Given this, Petroglyphs setup seems like a bad idea. COLORADO OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION COMMISSION (COGCC)COGCC orders remediation program to address methane in domestic wells.COGCC staff and any affected residents shall be provided immediate notice of any condition which causes, or threatens to cause, a significant adverse impact on the environment, including, but not limited to, the water quantity or quality of the shallow aquifer or indications that the area impacted by the gas has expanded. Impacts to Quality Main water quality impacts:

Discharge of industrial waste.

Stormwater.

Injection into underground aquifers.Fracking Contaminants Fracking fluids contain chemicals that can be toxic to humans and wildlife, and known carcinogens, such as benzene.

Very small quantities of benzene are capable of contaminating millions of gallons of water.

Fracking ContaminantsEthylbenzeneToluene NaphthaleneFormaldehyde Ethylene glycolHydrochloric acid Sodium hydroxideSODIUM ABSORPTION RATIO (SAR)SAR is the proportion of sodium ions in relation to the concentration of calcium and magnesium.High SAR levels create serious soil problems which prevent plants from effectively absorbing water. Also adverse impacts to livestock, aquatic and human life.

10This slide shows water quality impacts of CBM water discharged by Petroglyph in Huerfano County.

Contaminated water discharged by Petroglyph destroyed a dairy farm operation that has been in existence for more than seventy years.

These impacts have been verified by the Colorado Department of Health and the Environment

11Corn that used to be 11 feet high is now two or three feet high, and crop yields have been reduced by 75%.

Damage to the dairy farm operation totals millions of dollars.

Other farmers in the area have seen similar damage to their farming operations.

The damage to the soil may be irreversible.

12Cow with tuberculosis

13This is a photograph of a fish from Maria Lake, a trophy fishing lake in Huerfano County.

Maria Lake is the oldest storage water right in the State.

CBM water discharges killed a substantial percentage of the fish in the lake.

Many fish now have the eye damage shown in the photo.

Many fish also have quarter-sized holes in their gills.

Both of these defects have been linked to CBM water discharges.

Maria lake has been forced, at their own expense, to install an aeration system in the lake in order to mitigate the impacts to the lake.

COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT (CDPHE)The continued practice of discharging the untreated produced water (i.e, high Sodium Adsorption Ratio, SAR, values and high sodium concentrations) into the Cucharas River, under specific hydrologic conditions, creates a known threat to the beneficial agricultural use of this state water by impairing the suitability of this river water when diverted for agricultural uses. CDPHESpecifically, there has been damage to corn fields, soils, and dairy cattle when water was diverted (Holita Ditch) from the Cucharas River to a storage pond (Holita Reservoir) and then and routed to the Corsentino Dairy for these agricultural uses. The damage was first reported in 2006 and has been confirmed by soil scientists from Colorado State University and USDAs National Salinity Team.

Colorado Regulates Oil and Gas-Related Ground Water DiversionsVance v. Wolfe:

CBM ground water diverters must get a well permit.

And an augmentation plan.

SEO interprets this to apply to all oil and gas wells not just CBM.COLORADO LAW Any substituted water shall be of a quality and quantity so as to meet the requirements for which the water of the senior appropriator has normally been used . . . . C.R.S. 37-92-305(5)

COLORADO LAW Public policy to conserve state waters and to protect, maintain, and improve, where necessary and reasonable, the quality thereof for public water supplies, for protection and propagation of wildlife and aquatic life, for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and recreational uses, and for other beneficial uses. C.R.S. 25-8-102(2)

CLEAN WATER ACTProhibits discharge of any pollutants to waters of the US without a permit.

Permits developed by reference to numeric limits of regulated constituents and narrative limits.

As a practical matter, narrative limits are rarely the subject of actual water quality limitations.

When the content of discharged water is not known (or when industry refuses to disclose), how can CWA to regulate discharges?Clean Water ActStormwater has been identified as one of the primary causes of pollution in the US.

1987 amendments to CWA provide for regulation of stormwater.

EPA adopted regulations to extend stormwater regulation to oil and gas operations.CDPHEEPA discharge permitting handled by CDPHE.No discharge of pollutants into State waters without a permit. State waters include surface and groundwater.THE BOTTOM LINESTATE AND FEDERAL LAW APPLIES TO OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS AND PROTECTS BOTH WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY.

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