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Lack of information and outmoded data are the prime failings of the draft Resource Management Plan for the Roan Plateau, according to some elected officials and government agencies advising the Bureau of Land Management on the plan.
Six cooperating agencies — the cities of Rifle and Glenwood Springs, the town of Parachute, Rio Blanco and Garfield counties and state agencies including the Division of Wildlife and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission — huddled Wednesday in Rifle to help BLM craft the preferred management plan for the plateau.
Although BLM will make the final call on just how much and how quickly natural gas will be developed on the resource-rich plateau north of Rifle, the agency also hopes the agencies and governments will reach consensus by the end of the summer on what the plan would look like.
In the second of five scheduled meetings, the group pored over its written comments on the plan ranging from well spacing to wildlife impacts.
Among the most vocal of the group was DOW wildlife manager John Broderick, who said BLM has not included detailed information about the scope of gas development and its attendant impacts on the Roan Plateau.
“If we don’t know how much physical development (there will be) and how to manage that development, it’s hard for DOW to say how to mitigate (impacts),” he said, adding that BLM did not quantify such impacts as the number of roads that will be built and acres disturbed by gas development.
“It’s a subjective guess on our part without those details tied down,” he said.
However, BLM Glenwood Springs field manager Jamie Connell pointed out the plan is just that, not “an authorization document,” and will not be specific about the number of wells that will be allowed. Those decisions are made in individual drilling permits.
“There are too many options. There are no clear distinctions between the alternatives with regard to all the resources,” Broderick said.
Connell acknowledged the point. “If you guys have trouble figuring that out, then the public would have a difficult time with it.”
Broderick also questioned BLM’s planning area, which he said takes in the east side of Parachute Creek but not the west side. Deer, he said, do not recognize geographic boundaries, and it makes more sense in considering impacts to that population to consider a larger area that coincides with their natural range.
Further, the west side of the creek, outside the planning area, is seeing intense gas development that is impacting wildlife. “That 10-year history (of gas development) is not divulged (in the RMP),” he said.
That accelerated development also reflects a dramatic increase in gas drilling since the RMP was begun. Many in the group pointed out that BLM based its conclusions about projected gas development over the 20-year life of the plan on outdated information.
“The world has changed dramatically in the last five years. In order to have a document that’s meaningful, you can’t (base information on old data),” said Vince Matthews, of the Colorado Geological Survey.
Both Matthews and COGCC director Brian Macke urged BLM to include 10-acre downhole spacing in its management plan. That is the optimal spacing identified by the gas industry for extracting 80 to 85 percent of the gas underground.
Steve Bennett, assistant field manager at BLM in Glenwood Springs, said the agency intends to correct its assumptions about the scope of development, specifically taking into consideration directional drilling and a longer drilling season on top of the plateau.
“The well numbers will come up when we add the new assumptions, so there will be more impacts,” he said.
Discussion also revolved around management approaches to drilling that included leasing large blocks of public land but confining activity, and impacts, to a smaller area, perhaps 200 acres.
Some suggested clustered or unitized drilling that would have one operator drill in a large area of several thousand acres. BLM could also limit the number of wells that could be drilled.
Connell asked the group to consider which would be the best approach to managing drilling and to give her feedback.
“We want to come up with something creative and new,” Connell said, but it should be something all the groups can buy into.
Contact Donna Gray: 945-8515, ext. 510
dgray@postindependent.com
Six cooperating agencies — the cities of Rifle and Glenwood Springs, the town of Parachute, Rio Blanco and Garfield counties and state agencies including the Division of Wildlife and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission — huddled Wednesday in Rifle to help BLM craft the preferred management plan for the plateau.
Although BLM will make the final call on just how much and how quickly natural gas will be developed on the resource-rich plateau north of Rifle, the agency also hopes the agencies and governments will reach consensus by the end of the summer on what the plan would look like.
In the second of five scheduled meetings, the group pored over its written comments on the plan ranging from well spacing to wildlife impacts.
Among the most vocal of the group was DOW wildlife manager John Broderick, who said BLM has not included detailed information about the scope of gas development and its attendant impacts on the Roan Plateau.
“If we don’t know how much physical development (there will be) and how to manage that development, it’s hard for DOW to say how to mitigate (impacts),” he said, adding that BLM did not quantify such impacts as the number of roads that will be built and acres disturbed by gas development.
“It’s a subjective guess on our part without those details tied down,” he said.
However, BLM Glenwood Springs field manager Jamie Connell pointed out the plan is just that, not “an authorization document,” and will not be specific about the number of wells that will be allowed. Those decisions are made in individual drilling permits.
“There are too many options. There are no clear distinctions between the alternatives with regard to all the resources,” Broderick said.
Connell acknowledged the point. “If you guys have trouble figuring that out, then the public would have a difficult time with it.”
Broderick also questioned BLM’s planning area, which he said takes in the east side of Parachute Creek but not the west side. Deer, he said, do not recognize geographic boundaries, and it makes more sense in considering impacts to that population to consider a larger area that coincides with their natural range.
Further, the west side of the creek, outside the planning area, is seeing intense gas development that is impacting wildlife. “That 10-year history (of gas development) is not divulged (in the RMP),” he said.
That accelerated development also reflects a dramatic increase in gas drilling since the RMP was begun. Many in the group pointed out that BLM based its conclusions about projected gas development over the 20-year life of the plan on outdated information.
“The world has changed dramatically in the last five years. In order to have a document that’s meaningful, you can’t (base information on old data),” said Vince Matthews, of the Colorado Geological Survey.
Both Matthews and COGCC director Brian Macke urged BLM to include 10-acre downhole spacing in its management plan. That is the optimal spacing identified by the gas industry for extracting 80 to 85 percent of the gas underground.
Steve Bennett, assistant field manager at BLM in Glenwood Springs, said the agency intends to correct its assumptions about the scope of development, specifically taking into consideration directional drilling and a longer drilling season on top of the plateau.
“The well numbers will come up when we add the new assumptions, so there will be more impacts,” he said.
Discussion also revolved around management approaches to drilling that included leasing large blocks of public land but confining activity, and impacts, to a smaller area, perhaps 200 acres.
Some suggested clustered or unitized drilling that would have one operator drill in a large area of several thousand acres. BLM could also limit the number of wells that could be drilled.
Connell asked the group to consider which would be the best approach to managing drilling and to give her feedback.
“We want to come up with something creative and new,” Connell said, but it should be something all the groups can buy into.
Contact Donna Gray: 945-8515, ext. 510
dgray@postindependent.com
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