Public comment sought on Draft Groundwater Pollution Prevention, Monitoring, and Response Action Plan for PAPA gas field
Deadline for comments is January 23, 2015
by Bureau of Land Management
Original post January 8, 2015 | Updated January 20, 2015
Editor's Update, 1/20/15: The BLM has extended the public comment deadline to February 6, 2015. The following release was received today:
The BLM Pinedale Field Office is extending the comment period on the draft Groundwater Pollution Prevention, Monitoring, and Response Action Plan for the Pinedale Anticline natural gas field from Friday, January 23rd to Friday, February 6, 2015. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the public notice did not make the newspapers as intended. Public notices were published on Pinedale Online on January 8, 2015 and in the Pinedale Roundup on January 16, 2015 and the Sublette Examiner on January 20, 2015. The deadline has been extended to give the public adequate time to review this plan.
The plan can be found at: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/field_offices/Pinedale/anticline/water.html. A hardcopy of the complete document can be viewed at the BLM offices at 1625 W. Pine St. in Pinedale and a copy of the text without appendices can be found at the Pinedale Public Library.
Public comments will now be accepted until 4:30 p.m. on February 6, 2015. Written comments may be mailed or delivered to the BLM Pinedale Field Office, 1625 W. Pine St., P.O. Box 768, Pinedale, WY 82941; or emailed to jbellis@blm.gov. If you have any questions, please contact Janet Bellis at 307-367-5316 or jbellis@blm.gov.
Comment deadline extended for PAPA Groundwater Monitoring Plan
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Original post (Pinedale Online was notified of this public comment period on January 8, 2015):
BLM Release Date: 12/23/14
Contacts: Tony Brown, 307-352-0215
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public comments on the Draft Groundwater Pollution Prevention, Monitoring, and Response Action Plan (Plan), developed by NewFields Mining, Energy, and Environmental Services, LLC (NewFields). The deadline to submit comments to BLM is January 23, 2015.
The Plan and comment table is available at: www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/field_offices/Pinedale/anticline/water.html. Hard copies are available for review at BLM’s Pinedale Field Office at 1625 West Pine St. in Pinedale, WY.
Public comments will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. on January 23. Written comments may be mailed or delivered to the BLM Pinedale Field Office, 1625 W. Pine St., P.O. Box 768, Pinedale, WY 82941; or email to jbellis@blm.gov.
The Plan represents the third and final step outlined in Section 4.2 of the Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA) September 2008, Record of Decision (ROD), and is intended to serve as the master groundwater baseline sampling, analysis, and monitoring plan for the PAPA.
The Plan was developed through a deliberate, collaborative process involving BLM, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality-Water Quality Division (DEQ), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC), Wyoming State Engineer’s Office (SEO), and PAPA Operators (Ultra Resources, Inc. and QEP Energy Company, sponsors of the Plan, and Linn Energy).
The Plan describes the process to be used to protect groundwater resources in the PAPA from potential impacts that could result from natural gas exploration and production activities. To date, comprehensive groundwater studies in the PAPA spanning 2007 through 2013 found no evidence of widespread impacts to groundwater in the PAPA from potential sources associated with these natural gas activities. The Plan will consist of three interrelated programs, described below:
A Groundwater Pollution Prevention Program, which identifies and represents the employment of best management practices (BMPs) designed to prevent groundwater pollution, most of which are already in use either through regulation or voluntarily as operator committed practices;
A Groundwater Monitoring Program; which will consist of a well network (existing wells and new monitoring wells) and sampling program to evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of BMPs; and,
A Response Action Program, which will be put into place should a groundwater quality threshold be exceeded, the existing Hydrogeologic Conceptual Model needs revising, and/or a BMP has failed or is absent.
The Plan is organized around these three programs and details are provided in five sections:
Section 1 - Introduction
Section 2 - Goals and Objectives
Section 3 - Pollution Prevention Program
Section 4 - Groundwater Monitoring Plan
Section 5 - Response Action Program
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