JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau | Posted: Monday, July 31, 2006 12:00 am
GREEN RIVER - A federal advisory group directed to monitor the development of the Pinedale Anticline gas field is looking for a new start.
Nine new faces are expected to be a part of the Pinedale Anticline Working Group when the group meets again next year, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
Tuesday's scheduled meeting of the Pinedale Anticline Working Group was canceled while BLM officials await the official confirmation from the Department of the Interior for seven new members nominated this summer. Two other new members were confirmed this summer.
Working group members are appointed to two-year terms, subject to removal by the Interior secretary.
"We had no trouble getting applications in for those (open) spots … but those selections still have to be run through the secretary of the Interior," said Matt Anderson, PAWG liaison officer for the BLM. "We're just waiting for those applications packets to get the blessing from Washington."
Anderson said two other new members - Steve Due and Betty Fear, both of Pinedale - were confirmed by the secretary in May.
The nine-member experimental advisory board was formed by charter and authorized to spearhead an "adaptive management" process that could result in changes to oil and gas development in the anticline as the development is occurring.
The group was established in July 2000 with the release of the record of decision for the Pinedale Anticline Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Project.
The document approved an exploration plan for the anticline that calls for the drilling of more than 900 new natural gas wells over the next 10 to 15 years - to achieve 700 producing wells - by operators including Questar Exploration and Production, BP America and Shell.
The anticline begins northwest of Pinedale and stretches about 30 miles to the southeast in Sublette County.
The working group consists of representatives from government, industry, agriculture, conservation and local citizens. The group oversees seven resource-specific task groups that focus on water, air, wildlife and socioeconomic issues, among others.
In April 2005, the advisory board forwarded to the BLM a list of 57 prioritized recommendations for the monitoring of impacts related to oil and gas development in the field. Those recommendations included counting traffic to and from drilling rig sites, collaring sage grouse for study, monitoring wildlife habitat and vegetation, and assessing ongoing reclamation efforts.
Last September, the BLM announced the agency will provide about $275,000 to fund the highest-priority monitoring recommendations by the group.
BLM officials said anticline oil and gas operators are also supporting monitoring and research in the project area. Shell Exploration and Development Inc., for example, contributed $100,000 to help fund the initial purchase and installation of an air quality monitoring station near Boulder.
Some past members of the working group, however, have criticized the BLM for not following the group's recommendations and for limiting the scope of the issues it considers. Some members even went so far as to declare the panel "dead."
Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.