Assembly considers involvement in coal-bed methane battle

MAT-SU — It wasn't on the agenda, but discussion about coal-bed methane drilling occupied a large chunk of time and will be part of several upcoming staff projects after the Mat-Su Borough Assembly met Tuesday.A flurry of motions and recommendations was made at the meeting, indicative of the assemblyÍs response to public concern about coal-bed methane drilling. Trouble is, at this point, thereÍs not a lot the assembly can do for residents who want development limited on their property. The borough has no regulations limiting gas drilling within its boundaries. The closest thing to regulations that would affect drilling operations, Borough Manager John Duffy said, would be the boroughÍs core-area conditional use permit wording, which would address noise issues. ñWhat it really boils down to is noise … related to the compressor plant or plants,î Duffy explained. And those regulations pertain only to the core area, not the borough as a whole. Nine borough residents spoke before the assembly during the audience participation portion of the meeting, with comments ranging from a simple thank-you for scheduling informational meetings on the issue to asking for the borough to notify property owners whose land is covered by a shallow-gas drilling lease and putting forward regulations that would place hurdles before the state and drilling companies to slow development.Borough planning commissioner and local mediator Chris Rose said several issues needed to be readdressed about the drilling process, and the borough has good reason to take part in that readdressing. Public notice, he said, was one good place to start. ñThree hundred leases have been let so far,î Rose said. He said he researched the issue and found that, of those 300 leases, the Department of Natural Resources received 16 public comments, 15 of which pertained to a single lease in Talkeetna that was later denied. Of the other 299 leases, he said, one comment was received. DNRÍs policy of one day of advertisement in local papers and placing the information on its Web site, he said, didnÍt appear to constitute due process.ñWhen you consider due process and how much [notice] is required, you weigh what people stand to lose …î Rose said. ñWhat more do we have to lose than our property?îRose, like several other testifiers, suggested the borough take up the task of making sure borough residents are aware of leases potentially affecting their property. His wife, Robin McLean, took the suggestion a step further.ñWe urge you, as our governmental body, that you all step in and slow this process down, to make sure this fast-tracked bill that came through the Legislature is really what we want,î McLean said. ñThis is a very substantial thing thatÍs happening in our community.îOne way to slow the process, suggested former Friends of Mat-Su Executive Director Michelle Church, is to create an ordinance that would apply to coal-bed methane extraction.ñI ask that a boroughwide ordinance specific to coal-bed methane be written; the existing protections are area-by-area,î Church said. ñCoal-bed methane is a big issue and cannot be left to an ordinance that cannot be enforced … We need you to do what you think is right. Until we can get state law changed, we need local protection.îOther residents said having no protection from the borough leaves local property owners with scant negotiating power, either with a potential driller or, if property damage is done, in the courtroom.ñItÍs quite an annoyance to say the least that weÍve spent 30 years taking care of the land and keeping it nice because we do have a beautiful state and I believe we should keep it that way, and someone can come in and knock down trees … ,î Jarel Vinduska told the assembly, ñand we have no negotiating power.îVinduska said he had visited Department of Environmental Conservation offices earlier that day and it was apparent that, due to understaffing and other issues, little environmental oversight would be applied to the drilling ventures. ñItÍs up to the local people to protect ourselves,î Vinduska said.One way of ensuring local protection, Lazy Mountain resident Jim Sykes said, is to provide guidelines for development. In the Lower 48, he said, local governments have regulations in place to specify minimum setbacks from a residence, noise restrictions and other guidelines pertaining to shallow-gas drilling.ñNone of these things are in place as we speak,î Sykes said.Others suggested the borough had a significant amount to lose if drilling were to begin in the area. A primarily residential area, said Chris Whittington-Evans, representing Friends of Mat-Su, the borough is very dependent on property taxes and, consequently, property value is important to the economy of the borough. The assembly members responded with a flurry of requests. After closing the public participation portion of the meeting, borough mayor Tim Anderson asked that work begin to develop an ordinance on coal-bed methane drilling. Deputy mayor Jim Colver asked that public notice be sent out by the borough to landowners whose property is being considered for lease and landowners on whose property a shallow-gas drilling lease has been issued. Assembly member Mary Kvalheim asked the borough administration for more information on a methane seep study mentioned by Planning Commissioner and Sutton resident Chris Rose. Such studies, Rose said, had been done on shallow-gas wells in the Lower 48 and revealed the capped-off wells were leaking. Assembly member Jody Simpson wanted more information about state regulations pertaining to shallow-gas drilling and what, exactly, is the Department of Natural ResourcesÍ public comment process. Assembly member Bill Allen asked borough administration to contact people in communities in the Lower 48 where shallow-gas drilling is in progress and find out what ordinances local governments in those areas have enacted to protect the rights of property owners.Assembly member Kelly Lankford Ladere, under assembly comments, encouraged people to look into the issue and research it, but reminded residents that, in a small part, gas development in the Mat-Su Borough, including wells still in operation at Beluga Point, contributes to permanent fund dividend checks Alaska residents receive.Assembly member Bruce Bush said he was just as surprised as other residents in his area to find out his land was leased for shallow-gas exploration. ñWhen I found out my land was leased, I thought maybe I can become a millionaire „ and then I remembered I canÍt, I donÍt own the mineral rights,î Bush said. He added that Lazy Mountain has a history of water problems and heÍs been contacted by several residents concerned about water issues in addition to other shallow-gas drilling concerns. He asked borough officials to embark on a water quality study, a study Kvalheim pointed out was one of several priorities the assembly set for itself at a recent goal-setting workshop.Although the requests made didnÍt have a timeline attached, itÍs apparent the assembly will continue to deal with this issue in the coming weeks. And, Colver pointed out, with good reason.ñI think the greatest fear people have is theyÍve got their entire investment tied up in their homes …,î Colver said. ñIf our property values start dropping, weÍd be in a pinch to fund schools.î