Ranchers seek limits on methane water

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP)--Ranchers and landowners are asking the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council to change state rules governing the discharge of water produced from coal-bed methane wells.

Some ranchers and landowners complain that they have lost fields and trees because of poor quality groundwater pumped to the surface by the wells in order to release the methane from coal seams.

"The vast majority of water is flushed down draws and run down ephemeral drainages. It destroys the land," Marge West, a Campbell County rancher, said. "We had 80 acres of prime hay meadow destroyed, and we lost 200 cottonwood trees."

The landowners want the Wyoming Environmental Quality Council to force the industry to provide assurances that all discharged water is put to measurable beneficial use, such as watering holes for wildlife and livestock. Water that is not good enough for beneficial uses would have to be disposed of in ways other than simply letting it run off into creeks, streams and rivers.

The council was to hear arguments Feb. 16 on the petition. A decision won't come until later.

The Petroleum Association of Wyoming is fighting the petition.

"Prove to me that it's not being put to a beneficial use," John Robitaille, vice president of the Petroleum Association, said. "We believe if the water is available in these arid environments, the animals will use it. And we've heard dozens of stories of ranchers who get better range utilization with their cattle spread out, and we've seen very successful irrigation programs."

Under current rules, as long as some beneficial use is demonstrated the state Department of Environmental Quality allows the discharge of large volumes of water without regard that a majority of the water is not put to a beneficial use.

Date: 2/22/06