The Bureau of Land Management today said it will hold a series of regional public forums in late April to discuss the hydraulic fracturing techniques used in natural gas production on federal lands later this month.
Agency spokesman Matt Spangler a date has not yet been set for the hearing that will be held in Denver. Forums also will be held in Bismark, N.D., and Little Rock, Ark.
In November, the U.S. Department of the Interior held a similar forum on best practices for hydraulic fracturing, a technique in which fluids are sent down oil and gas wells under pressure to break the rock strata to release more oil and gas.
The April meetings are expected to provide a more in-depth, technical review of natural gas development practices on public lands. The meetings are part of BLM’s efforts to ensure that oil and gas development is taking place on public lands in a responsible and environmentally sustainable manner, the agency said in a news release.
“The Interior Department has a responsibility to study the potential impacts and to identify commonsense, best management practices that should be used in fracturing operations on public lands to ensure that this development is carried out in the right way and in the right places,” BLM Director Bob Abbey said.
Natural gas development on federal lands has more than doubled over the last 20 years, from 1.2 trillion cubic feet in 1991 to nearly 3.0 trillion cubic feet in 2010. In 2010, about 14 percent of domestically produced natural gas came from onshore public lands.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar earlier this year moved to more closely regulate fracking fluids on gas mining on BLM land.
The BLM issues leases for natural gas development on lands managed by the BLM as well as lands managed by other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service. The BLM also manages subsurface mineral rights in a number of areas where the land above is privately owned. The use of hydraulic fracturing in these areas has similarly increased in recent years.
In the past, companies have used diesel fuel and possibly other harmful chemicals in the fracking process, according to a House investigation that looked at records in 19 states, including Colorado, between 2005 and 2009.
U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, and Jared Polis, D-Boulder, have introduced legislation that would require oil and gas companies to disclose what’s in fracking fluids.
The bill would also put the companies — now exempt from the Drinking Water Act — back under the regulatory eye of the Environmental Protection Agency.
