CBM workshops set

MAT-SU -- Public workshops with state officials aimed at developing guidelines for coal-bed methane development in the Mat-Su have been moved to four consecutive weeks in January, according to state officials.

The meetings, according to Pat Galvin in the Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas, will take place Wednesdays, beginning on Jan. 14, at the Central Mat-Su Public Safety Building in Wasilla off Lucille Street. There will be two sessions, in afternoons and evenings, each Wednesday from Jan. 14 through Feb. 4.

State and Mat-Su Borough officials met Thursday to check progress on information being compiled about existing state and borough regulations that would pertain to shallow-gas drilling.

"The grand scheme of things is sort of building toward the public workshops," Galvin told those who had gathered to sit in on the discussion Wednesday.

One of the challenges facing the group is developing a map that would provide several layers of data, which people attending the meetings could use to learn more about the ownership and land use of land currently under lease.

"We've got all the shallow-gas leases, all of the conventional leases already in existence on the maps, and all of that has been refined to show the legal boundaries of the leases," Galvin said. "The problem has been trying to define the land status."

The maps, Galvin said, would be able to provide more detailed information than has previously been available. On previous maps, he said, leases were shown covering whole sections of land, when that was not the case. Portions of the land were reserved from lease, he said, but that wasn't reflected in the existing maps.

Matt LaCroix, with DNR's Office of Habitat Management and Policy, suggested including photos to give examples of what the equipment used for drilling looks like. Others at the table objected, saying it could backfire if the equipment didn't match the photos.

"Maybe there won't be a standard, but there's a range," LaCroix said. "They can identify at least whether it'll be the size of a bread box or a Subaru."

But several components could drastically change what a drilling site looks like, Crandall said. Directional drilling, he said, could allow broad access to a coal seam while maintaining a very small above-ground footprint.

In a status update, Galvin said the department was proceeding forward despite comments last month by Gov. Frank Murkowski that a buyback of coal-bed methane leases may be a possibility that would allow work on regulations to be completed before full-scale exploration begins.

"We still haven't received any sort of direction, in terms of what the desire of the administration is for that," Galvin said. "We need to know how we're supposed to deal with that -- but right now, we need to decide when the next meeting is."

The group agreed to meet once more in December -- Thursday at 8:30 a.m. in Anchorage, at 555 Cordova Street near Office Depot, in the building's 6th floor conference room. At that meeting, he said, members of the group should be ready to give an overview of what they'll present at the workshops, so the group can determine how they'll take shape.

The four meetings will be arranged under different topics, so each week's meetings will provide an opportunity for public comment on a different topic. Having the workshops arranged into topics, the group agreed, would allow them to respond to unexpected questions that require more research.

When the group asked if those in the audience had any questions or comments, several questions came up. Mat-Su Borough Assembly Member Betty Vehrs asked what would happen if, at the end of the workshops, it was simply apparent Valley residents didn't want drilling to take place in their area.

"My job is to put together rules for how to analyze the current, existing state authorities and determine if they're sufficient to meet the issues raised," Galvin said. "If, at the end of that, I would suspect that there will be an argument that it's not going to be enough … and shouldn't be allowed, that's out of my hands. Our issue isn't to decide that. Our issue is to put the rules in place."