Meeting Information

Agenda

Hotel and Registration Info

Support

Support for WGA's Enlibra program is provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and by Region IX of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Background Information on Enlibra

Examples of Enlibra in Action

Policy Resolution Outlining Enlibra Principles

Frequently Asked Questions

Advisory Committee

Publications, Press Releases and Speeches

Meetings

Resource Guide

Environmental Summit
on the West II

Coal Bed Methane Development in the West
Breakout Session I 

Background

Coal bed methane (CBM) is a form of natural gas that is trapped within coal seams and held in place by hydraulic pressure. The gas is stored on the internal surfaces of the coal and released when wells are drilled that release the pressure holding the gas in place. CBM development in the United States has grown rapidly from a few dozen wells in the 1980s to some 14,000 wells in 2000 that produced 1.5 trillion cubic feet gas, representing seven percent of total U.S. gas production.

Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming may contain as much as 47 trillion cubic feet of CBM, one third of the total estimated U.S. recoverable amount. The San Juan basin in Colorado and New Mexico has been the major source of CBM. Development began in 1988 and rapidly expanded by the end of the 1990s. Production has now begun to decline in the area. The Powder River Basin in Northwest Wyoming is the fastest growing CBM area today. In 1997, the basin produced 54 million cubic feet of gas/day from 360 wells. Four years later, 5,854 wells were producing 656 million cubic feet/day. CBM resources are also being developed in the Uinta Basin in Utah and the Raton Basin in Colorado, and major expansions of coalbed development are expected in Montana and in Wyoming's Green River basin, among other sites.

The rapid growth in CBM development has posed challenges for the communities in which it has occurred. The construction of new roads, pipelines, compressors, and other facilities have transformed landscapes. Air and noise pollution have become sources of conflict. Some landowners possess only surface rights; government agencies have leased the subsurface mineral rights to companies, and those rights clash with the interests of some landowners, and others who seek different kinds of land uses. Most contentious has been the issue of water. CBM development may affect underground water quantity by diminishing it as dewatering occurs, groundwater may be contaminated by mineral-laden discharged water, and local ecosystems may be adversely affected by the surface release of large quantities of water. CBM development is a major issue facing federal land agencies, state governments, county commissions, energy companies, and citizens throughout the Intermountain West.

The CBM breakout session will begin with a short presentation from the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey on the scope of the CBM resource in the West and the issues associated with its development. Three case studies of CBM development will then be presented.  Three CBM experts will draw from these case studies to address the policy and technology implications for the rest of the West.  Breakout session attendees will draw from this discussion to shape consensus policy recommendations.

Goals for the Session 

• Determine how the Enlibra principles can be used to help manage the production of CBM and the associated impacts where production is already occurring; 
• Determine how the Enlibra principles can be used to assist the federal government, states, tribes and communities in deciding whether and how to begin to develop their CBM resources; and 
• Consider what type of science, technical assistance, technology transfer and outreach is necessary to successfully manage the resource and how this assistance should be delivered.

Hosts/Moderators:  Judy Martz, Governor, State of Montana, and Kathleen Clarke, Director, Bureau of Land Management

Presenters: 

CBM Overview

• Dr. Charles G. Groat, Director, U.S. Geological Survey

Powder River Basin of Wyoming Case Study

• Art Reese, Office of Wyoming Governor Geringer
• Mickey Steward, Coordinator, CBM Coordinating Coalition, Powder River Basin, Wyoming 

San Juan Basin of Colorado Case Study

• Dave Brown, BP Amoco, Denver
• Gwen Lachelt, Oil and Gas Accountability Project, Durango, CO

Uintah Basin of Utah Case Study

• Lowell Braxton, Director, Division of Oil, Gas and Mining; UT Department of Natural Resources

Experts Panel

• Pete Culp, Assistant Director for Minerals, Realty, and Resource Protection, Bureau of Land Management
• Gary Bryner, University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center
• Dr Terry Brown, Western Research Institute, Center for Western Coal Bed Methane Development  

Background 

U.S.G.S. Factsheet