Some of us discovered that Idaho has an Oil and Gas Conservation Commission during an information hearing on natural gas drilling in Payette County before the Idaho House Environment, Energy & Technology Committee during the legislative session.
Idaho Land Board members, including the Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Controller and Superintendent of Public Instruction also serve as the State Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. On April 19th they met first as the latter body to discuss issues related to drilling for natural gas in Payette County.
The duties of the Oil and Gas Commission are to prevent waste of natural gas, regulate drilling and review requests for directional drilling. If there are concerns about air quality, dusty roads or sage grouse, those are handled by other agencies such as the Office of Species Conservation, Department of Environmental Quality or the Idaho Public Utilities Commission. At this meeting, the Governor acting as Chairman of the Commission asked those who wished to testify to limit their remarks to the issues which can properly come before the commission, not roads, air quality or sage grouse.
The first order of business was the number of wells per acre that should be permitted. Bridge Energy had requested the spacing be based on one well per 160 acres instead of one well per 640 acres in order to properly capture all the natural gas being sought. After a contested case which required a public hearing, the hearing officer recommended approval of one well per 160 acres.
While there was no opposition stated during the contested case, Melinda Harper, a source water protection specialist with the Idaho Rural Water Association testified that there was no physical printout presented at the original hearing and no technical information for the March 31st meeting was available. She raised concern about the impact on drinking water and asked that the variance not be applied unless more information is presented to those who have concerns.
The Commission adopted the amended rule as recommended by the hearing officer.
The next topic on the agenda was consideration of temporary rules for hydraulic fracturing to establish consistent standards. The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) modified draft rules to address concerns that had been raised about the process of fracturing or “fracing” as it is known in the industry. The hydraulic fracturing that is being proposed in Payette County is a common process that is generally considered safe. Problems that have been publicized have to do with fracing in large shale and coal methane drilling.
IDL believes this proposed temporary rule meets the state’s needs and that it goes beyond what other states currently have for this type of drilling and fracing. A request for a negotiated rulemaking will be presented at the May commission meeting.
Justin Hayes with Idaho Conservation League participated in the public meeting in Payette County and has visited with concerned members in the New Plymouth area. He presented friendly amendments to protect groundwater quality saying that the temporary rule needs to capture the need to protect ground water quality.
The amendments would prohibit the use of known carcinogens as well as the use of toxic substances that inhibit the human embryo growth and cause fetal mutations. A second amendment would prohibit fracturing that is more than 150 feet. Hayes suggested that we close the door on these items so that they can be discussed during negotiated rulemaking.
He also wanted to amend the temporary rule to require sufficient bonding. ICL wants bonding for each well, bonds for surface disturbances, and bonds for mitigation of ground water contamination. The attorney general questioned the timing of these proposals. ICL did submit proposals which were received and reviewed by IDL
IDL testified that it can use the permitting process to be vigilant until more formal rules are negotiated. How much bonding to require is limited by Idaho Code. Hayes pointed out the IDL is directed by statute to have reasonable performance bonds. Bonding for fracturing and well treatments is included in the bond required by IDL for drilling the wells (either per well or by a blanket bond). IDL responded that a statutory change would be needed to get authority for more bonding.
Diesel fuel is not allowed in fracturing and Bridge will continue to make all the compounds available to the public. Idaho does not allow use of any BTEX or volatile organic compounds
Steve West and Kim Parsons spoke for Bridge Energy. Parsons pointed out that definitions of carcinogenic and other such compounds are unclear. She mentioned that the temporary rule is one of the most restrictive there is at this time. With current rules, Bridge is required to make full disclosure of material used in fracing and the materials must be approved by IDL.
Parsons said Bridge uses the highest quality protection of ground water with liners and berms. The aquifer is protected by two to three layers of cement. The fracing is taking place 1000 fee below the aquifer. Bridge has invited the rest of the industry to come up to the levels of groundwater protection that its uses. Materials used are evaluated under Idaho’s groundwater rules and Bridge uses a number of safety measures and engineering redundancies.
IDL pointed out that the temporary rule was previously amended to answer the concerns of New Plymouth residents.
David Hawk who represents a competitor of Bridge is in favor of the draft temporary rule. From an operation and experience point of view, Bridge is very protective of groundwater. He urged the committee to support the temporary rule and not block the potential for other drilling that is currently held up by the BLM.
Melinda Harper testified again asking that the ingredients used in the fracing be food grade quality on the small chance that something not food grade enters the aquifer.
Justin Hayes said that ICL wants to create sideboards to protect groundwater and ensure that Bridge does what it needs to do to protect it as well.
“We can’t clean an aquifer once it is fouled,” he said.
After further questions of Bride Energy, the commission voted to adopt the temporary rule as recommended by IDL.
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