Oil and Gas at Your Door? (2005 Edition) - Earthworks

Tips for Landowners
Citizens Have Affected Local Regulations and Permitting Processes.
Many landowners have found support from their municipal and county governments. Local governments
often have a longer term vision for the health of the community. So if there is enough
public concern about a project, they may be more willing to champion the interests of local residents.
Below are some examples of how changes to local regulations have worked to benefit
surface owners.
• Water concerns prompt La Plata County Commissioners to attach conditions to permits
More and more people are finding that their groundwater wells are being affected by the
drilling of nearby gas wells. In response to citizen concerns related to this issue, the County
Commissioners in La Plata County, Colorado, attached a water-well testing condition to a
controversial gas well permit in a county subdivision. “I’m very nervous about making any
concessions about anything having to do with water,” Commissioner Bob Lieb said. “If we
ruin the water up there we ruin it forever.”
Largely due to public concerns, Commissioners voted unanimously to attach a set of conditions
on the well application that were unparalleled in the county. The conditions included:
1) monitoring domestic water wells within ½-mile of the gas well before and after
drilling. If contamination is found, the company must fix the problem; 2) build a 6-foot earthen
berm and plant trees on the berm to screen the well from sight; 3) after the well is
drilled, all work at the well will be limited to between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.; 4) six months after
the well begins producing gas, the company must replace the traditional I-beam pump,
which looks like a bobbing horse’s head, with a smaller, quieter pump, and switch from
diesel motors to electric motors. 471
The company complained that the tests were an unfair time burden on the company.
Commissioner Fred Klatt said it was hard to imagine the well tests being a burden on Huber,
considering that the projected profit from that one gas well was $6.5 million. 472
• Gallatin County Commission issues a moratorium on CBM exploration and development
In Montana, at the urging of local conservation groups including Park and Gallatin Citizens’
Alliance and Greater Yellowstone Coalition, as well as Bridger Canyon Property Owners
Association and hundreds of citizens, the Gallatin County Commission adopted a temporary
moratorium in July 2002 on exploration and development of all oil and gas. An emergency
interim zoning district was also and created in the coal deposit area of Bozeman Pass. The
regulations were passed specifically to address a proposal by J.M. Huber Corporation for
coalbed methane and natural gas exploration. Earlier, J.M. Huber was denied a permit by
the local planning and zoning commission to explore for coalbed methane in an existing
zoning district. While the permit denial was unexpected, Huber’s subsequent lawsuits
against Gallatin County were not. The precedent-setting decision paved the way for Huber
to sue the county in both state and federal courts for a “takings” of its private property,
among other claims. The outcome of these cases may determine the extent to which local
governments can regulate energy development. As of January 2004, the cases remain in
the courts. 473
• Filer Township adopts a landmark health protection ordinance
In 1999, Filer Township in Manistee County, Michigan adopted a landmark health protection
ordinance to ensure the safety of residents living and working near oil and gas facilities that
are associated with poisonous hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S). 474 The rigorous ordinance was developed
after three years of repeated refusals by the Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality to address the problem. The ordinance built on the tough H 2 S exposure standards
previously adopted by the township, and requires energy companies to: 1) Conduct a health
risk analysis of proposed new pipelines, processing plants, and compression stations. If an
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