Organized integrated multi-faceted monitoring of such
physical parameters as water quality, soil vapor and gas well surface casing
pressures was nurtured by the environmental concerns at Pine River Ranches
Subdivision. The Gas and Oil Regulatory Team (GORT) was formed in July and
August, 1994 as a data sharing ad hoc committee comprised of regulatory
agencies (BLM, COGCC, La Plata County), the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and gas
industry representatives dubbed the Colorado Petroleum Association, each entity
designating two representatives. The
initial directive was to discuss problems, gather data, and offer potential
solutions to the dilemma at the Pine River Ranches Subdivision. The meetings were open to the public with
time available for community involvement.
This collaboration of efforts was a major success in bringing all
involved parties together to discuss problems and offer suggestions for
remediation. Important studies were commissioned and relevant data collected
and shared. The BLM-SJRA was a major
contributor, documenting findings on water quality sampling and observed
water-entrained methane relationships over time as related to influence of
barometric pressure, ground water table fluctuation, etc. The Gurr Federal gas well was ordered by the
BLM to be shut-in indefinitely as a result of pressure transient analysis
findings. The Pine River Investigative
Team Report (1995) proposed straightforward cause and effect relationships, but
industry-funded independent consultants filed a counter-report proposing
alternative theories based upon other assumptions which confounded the
issues. The essence of discovery may
have therein been compromised through academic pursuits, suppositions and the
enviable quest for substantiating data, complete with interpretation. As GORT has no legal binding authority,
final decisions involving Pine River Ranches Subdivision were relegated to the
COGCC (the regulatory agency with local jurisdiction over the fee lands and
minerals that were involved) in cooperation with the primary gas operator.
The immediate threat to public health, safety and
welfare at the Pine River Ranches Subdivision has been removed by the gas
operator’s purchase of these and other nearby affected properties. GORT still
functions as a forum to discuss local issues potentially connected to oil and
gas production in La Plata County.
Other concerns are routinely submitted to the GORT forum and discussed
in open meetings. The public is invited
to comment. Specific concerns are
addressed by the respective regulatory entity having jurisdiction.