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BMP
Documents
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Coal
Bed Methane:
Environmental Issues
and Best Management
Practices
View Dan Arthur's
presentation from
the GWPC's annual
UIC meeting in January,
2002. |
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CBM
Best Management Practices
Update
Presented at the International
Petroleum Environmental
Consortium November
2001 – Houston,
Texas by Dan Arthur |
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During the second
half of the 1990’s Coal Bed Methane
(CBM) production increased dramatically
nationwide to represent a significant
new source of income and natural gas
for many independent and established
producers. Matching these soaring production
rates during this period were the advancements
in Geographical Information Systems
(GIS) technologies generating terra-bytes
of new data  for
the oil & gas industry. Coupled
to these accelerating initiatives are
many environmental concerns relating
to production wastes, surface discharge
concerns and water table depletion.
It is these concerns that have prompted
the conceptualization of a project involving
the development of Best Management Practices
(BMP) utilizing GIS technologies for
efficient environmental protection during
CBM development and production.
BMPs and mitigation
strategies are of particular interest
as they may afford the tools to facilitate
development of natural gas production
from underground coal seams in an
environmentally responsible manner.
The combination of heightened awareness
of environmental issues related to
present-day development/production
practices, including water production,
hydraulic treatments, pipeline construction,
storage and compression facilities,
water impoundments and disposal practices,
both shallow and deep injection practices,
and sensitive soils only increase
the need for planning. These issues
have placed increased pressure on
state and federal agencies, industry,
landowners, and the general public
with respect to development methodologies.
Increased awareness of best management
practices, mitigation strategies and
planning can enhance resource development
opportunities.
 ALL
Consulting and co-researcher Montana
Board of Oil & Gas Conservation
are researching the present environmental
concerns and CBM production practices
in the study area, the availability
of and/or need to create applicable
GIS datasets, and possible methods
to best explain results and disseminate
the information gained. Current goals
of the project currently underway
by ALL Consulting and the MBOGC include
the following:
 1)
Defining BMPs for specific zonal regions
based on production practices and
environmental setting. Several BMPs
have been inventories through research
throughout the country relating to
conventional oil & gas and coal
bed methane development and production.
Results of this research are being
compiled into a Handbook of Best Management
Practices and Mitigation Strategies.
The handbook includes lists and descriptions
of a broad variety of practices and
strategies, including photos showing
actual use in various settings. The
handbook also includes general and
introductory information relating
to CBM development in the Montana
portion of the Powder River Basin.
2) Develop a GIS computer
application tool with the capability
of defining multiple scenarios for
the delineation of areas of environmental
concern. This tool will ultimately
be utilized to streamline the permitting
process by the MBOGC and facilitate
better environmental decision-making,
and will also be available for public
use on the Internet to allow producers
to efficiently manage any environmental
concerns of a particular site.
 Included
in this task is the development of
an Internet-based GIS application
built using ESRI's ArcIMS and the
Spatial Data Engine. The application
can be accessed from any Internet
Web Browser and used to collect basic
oil & gas information for the
entire state of Montana. For the Montana
portion of the PRB, visitors can access
detailed environmental coverages ranging
from soils characteristics to water
well locations. Analysis tools are
also under development to provide
statistics for use in the selection
of BMPs or Mitigation Measures related
to CBM development and/or production.
These tools also align with the completion
of Environmental Assessments as required
by either the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) or the State of
Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA).
3) Technology transfer
is also a high priority for this project.
To-date, ALL and MBOGC have made multiple
presentations related to CBM, the
ongoing statewide Environmental Impact
Statement / Resource Management Plan,
and Best Management Practices. Detailed
workshops are planned for mid-2002.
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