Discussion on a pending Department of Lands rule governing the oil and gas extraction industries has been carried over until Monday as all those who signed up to testify at last week’s hearing still may not have had a chance to do so on Wednesday.
Those who were able to testify this week included a number of Idaho citizens who were residents of Payette County and Justin Hayes of the Idaho Conservation League. Hayes says his organization has concerns about the rules on several levels:
- Hayes said while appropriate amounts may have been set for an individual well bond, a blanket bonding procedures would allow for economy of scale, which would bring the per well cost down considerably.
- Fracking fluids remain a concern, which Hayes says make the entire rule untenable. ICL objects to what they say are fluids with cancer causing chemicals being injected into the ground, regardless of how safe the companies assert the system is. Disclosure of the exact contents of the fluids is immaterial, Hayes says, as he’s less interested in hearing about exactly what’s being injected, than he is about knowing dangerous compounds don’t have the potential to enter the aquifer. Merely disclosing a company is going to use them would not preclude them from using them.
"We are in a very interesting spot in Idaho, where we are creating rules from whole cloth since gas has just been discovered here," Hayes said. "In other states the oil and gas industry had a tremendous amount of sway, because the industry has been established. I don't think we need to be bound to the aspects of rules that aren't so great in other states. These industries have prevailed in their toxic chemicals rules in other states. I'd like to see them not prevail here."
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