Energy development is occurring at such a frenzied pace across the West that projects should be more carefully scrutinized than ever. The Bush administration often puts up roadblocks to such reviews, so it was encouraging to see the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency insist that a big natural gas project in southwestern Wyoming must avoid polluting the air.
The pristine skies above the Upper Green River Basin offer stunning vistas in the nearby Bridger, Fitzpatrick and Popo Agie Wilderness Areas. That rare purity is at risk.
The basin already has about 3,000 natural gas wells, but the U.S. Bureau of Land Management may OK another 10,000. The EPA focused on the Jonah Field, where producers want to add 3,100 wells to the 170 now there and the 497 that have been approved. The expansion could dirty the air because of diesel engines that power drill rigs and other equipment.
The controversy carries enormous implications not just for Wyoming but the entire West. Regional EPA officials, located in Denver, didn’t tell the BLM to nix the project but said more must be done to protect the air. The EPA told the BLM to include in its final environmental study more details “on the specific means to mitigate emissions from drilling operations.” That’s the kind of balance the West wants but that too often gets short shrift.
In a letter sent earlier this month, the EPA noted that federal law requires the preservation of air quality in wilderness areas but said the Jonah project could cause significant haze.
The EPA also worries the Jonah proposal could worsen ozone hazards. “In February 2005, ozone levels monitored in Jonah Field may have exceeded national health-based standards,” the EPA reported. Ozone pollution forms when sunlight “cooks” other air pollutants and so is most common in the summer. The fact that the Jonah’s ozone reached high levels in the winter heightens concerns about the result when drilling is in full swing. The BLM must ensure that rural Wyoming doesn’t see big-city pollution.
EnCana Corp., the Canadian company planning to expand the Jonah, says it can follow the EPA’s ideas and still do the project on a fast timetable. EnCana said it would use clean-burning diesel engines and has devised a way to purge wells of unwanted condensates without “flaring” the toxins, thus avoiding a common but damaging oil field practice. EnCana’s forward thinking deserves credit.
But the EPA merits the most applause for trying to preserve the West’s clean air.
