Ogan should resign from Evergreen

Spectrum, by David Holladay

Sen. Scott Ogan has betrayed the trust we have placed in him. According to his own reports with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, he has profited from his "consulting" relationship with the coal-bed methane developer, Evergreen Resources, to the tune of $40,000 in 2002 alone. Big money has blinded him. He is kidding himself that there are no ethical conflicts in working for the public and Evergreen simultaneously. He had a primary responsibility to the public first to inform us of these developments, get our input, and ensure a public process that protected our rights. He has done the opposite of this. He hasn't bothered to inform his constituents of the deadline for comments to the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission. He hasn't attended a number of public meetings where he might have informed people. Worse, he and Rep. Vic Kohring invited the Evergreen corporation to write laws that limited local property protections. Property owners in Sun Valley near Hatcher Pass have awoken to clearing and drilling on neighboring property without any sort of notification. If Sen. Ogan and Rep. Kohring had no conflicts of interest, they would have thought to include legislation that (1) properly notified property owners, (2) limited how close these companies can drill to our homes and (3) set limits on noise levels. If they were really working for us, they would have made sure our drinking water was protected. This would require baseline data of any preexisting and natural methane leakage from the ground. It would require baseline water quality data for local wells, streams and aquifers. We would have a requirement that water removed from drilled wells would be independently analyzed and recorded prior to its re-injection into the ground. Without these things, coal-bed methane drilling companies can easily claim that any damage to our property was preexisting. They didn't think of these things because of the big money and their development-at-any-cost attitude. As a person who has voted for Republicans, and one who believes in the importance of responsible development, these things make me cringe.

In Sen. Ogan's recent statements to the press, he promises to resign from his position with Evergreen if they "intentionally" disregard the health, safety or property rights of his constituents. Slippery talk. They could do a lot of damage and it would be darned hard to prove anything was "intentional." There is more slippery talk in a recent press release. He promises to resign his consulting position if it can be proven that Evergreen shows "culpable disregard." Will he decide what is culpable?

Finally, the risks of coal-bed methane have been sugar-coated by Mr. Ogan, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the Department of Natural Resources. To hear them tell it, all be wonderful. The reality is that there are risks to our peace and quiet, risks that our ground water will be contaminated, and many other unknowns. How much will our property be devalued if a compressor station is located near our homes for the next 30 years? Coal beds lie as shallow as several hundred feet in the Sutton area. This is easily within the range of local wells. How reassured can we be that our ground water will be protected from leakage? We do live in earthquake country. Methane gas doesn't always come out where its expected. Spontaneous methane eruptions in areas other than the drill hole have occurred. (This is a particular concern in Sutton where coal beds are not in a continuous layer.)

These sorts of risks need to be acknowledged. Openly presenting these risks to Alaskans can't be easy when you are getting big money from people with opposing interests. Mr. Ogan should push for a moratorium on further gas leases until more is known. He should resign his position with Evergreen. His fundamental failure to serve the public should then prompt him to resign his position as state senator.

David Holladay is a Palmer resident.