Borough Assembly should stay the CBM regulation course

Frontiersman editorial board

So far, the majority of Mat-Su Borough residents who have spoken up have been in favor of drafting a borough ordinance to regulate exploration for and development of coal-bed methane in this community. The greatest concerns are centered around quality of life and protection of personal property rights.

At a public hearing Tuesday, 20 of 21 people spoke in favor of the ordinance -- an ordinance that is being wrapped up at the same time the state finishes work on similar, but likely less-restrictive, regulations.

Some borough assembly members, particularly Talis Colberg, Bruce Bush and Jody Simpson have expressed concerns about the assembly working on regulations without first consulting the state's language. Colberg and Bush, at the Tuesday hearing, also questioned the process used to arrive at the fairly restrictive borough language. Colberg wanted to know what scientific reasons had been considered when making decisions about such things as well spacing. It was also asked whether Evergreen Resources Inc. had been consulted prior to crafting the language for the regulations.

With all due respect to those growth-minded assembly members, a couple of points must not be overlooked.

First, the point of the regulations is not to make it easy for Evergreen, or any other developer to locate and extract CBM from beneath private property. In fact, the point is to protect the rights and quality of life of property owners in this community. That should be the first priority of our elected officials. Colberg wanted to know if the borough's requirements for well spacing would make it impossible for a developer to extract CBM at all. The assembly's first priority is to protect borough residents.

Second, consulting Evergreen about how to draft legislation is half the reason we're in this mess to begin with. We don't need Outside industry to draft its own legislation at the expense of residents, and we certainly don't want Outside industry to regulate itself. If an outside source is to be consulted, it should be a neutral source with no political or economic stakes in this game. It's true that Evergreen has expertise, but its concern is extraction at the lowest cost with the highest return. We who live here have other priorities. So should our elected officials.

We should not give another inch in protecting our rights. We've already lost a mile.