Resources debates how to manage drilling impacts Gallup Independent July 24, 2013 By Kathy Helms Diné Bureau navajo1@gallupindependent WINDOW ROCK — When the Bureau of Land Management released a Resource Management Plan for San Juan County back in 2003, tribal leaders were asleep and failed to comment on it, according to Navajo Nation Council Delegate Leonard Tsosie. Now that plan is used to guide oil and gas developments in the Nation’s back yard. “The oil leases were approved without consultation with the Navajo Nation,” Tsosie said. “The Nation needs to meet with the Bureau of Land Management to explore how we can work this out. ... There’s nothing really in there about protecting Navajo allottees, about Navajo cultural resources. We try to object to this but BLM is saying that they already have the RMP approved.” The planning area encompasses the New Mexico portion of the San Juan Basin, one of the largest natural gas fields in the United States, which has been under development for more than 50 years. In 2003, the planning area supported around 18,000 active oil and gas wells and more than 2,400 existing oil and gas leases. The Navajo Nation Council’s Resources and Development Committee recently received a report from Tsosie at a meeting in Pueblo Pintado regarding oil drilling operations on federal lands managed by BLM near Counselor. Wake-up call “About six months ago, people were going out, getting their horses, watering their plants, taking care of their kids, and all the sudden these big oil trucks started rolling in and people said, ‘What’s going on?’ And it just got worse.” He said BLM has applications pending for oil production and Resources needs to begin registering its concerns. Tsosie is a member of the Resources committee. Among the issues are impacts from horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, water use, potential contamination from injection wells, deteriorating road conditions, cultural resources, rerouting of the Cutter Lateral, and air and noise pollution . “You have a hogan, and within about a hundred feet, they’re drilling. These people can’t sleep. Then with all the chemicals they put in the air, they’re saying that it’s beginning to smell. And right by the road where they put up those big tanks, they’re actually flaring the gas. This is all affecting Navajo people,” Tsosie said. With horizontal drilling, economics also come into play. “The question becomes, are they taking the oil out from under tribal trust land, tribal fee land and Indian allotments,” he said. Dust, flares and water Brandon Velivis, economic development adviser for Ojo Encino Chapter, talked about other challenges. “It’s difficult to actually do land use planning and have 50 percent of the land under BLM jurisdiction, especially when the Resource Management Plan doesn’t take into account those land use plans,” he said. Another concern is traffic, particularly in Counselor, where an oil field truck came into contact with a school bus, he said. “The issue is these roads aren’t built for this type of traffic.” Also, new pipeline activity is being conducted along roadways. “Since there seems to be a state regulation saying buses should not run along pipeline roads, this could cause an issue with some of the transportation,” he said. The trucks also create massive dust plumes and oilfield operations generate noise pollution, according to Velivis. “Plus, if it’s a moonless night, I can do actual shadow puppets off of the flare on the side of the house where we live. That’s just a personal example, but I know it’s being repeated throughout Counselor,” he said. Part of the land use planning from Counselor was to reinvigorate local agriculture, especially traditional agriculture. “There’s a large field not far from Turtle Mountain which relies on shallow groundwater to irrigate the fields in that area and people are starting to notice that a lot of the water levels are starting to drop,” Velivis said. “This is affecting ranching, and there are people who still use it for domestic purposes.” Despite Tsosie’s contention that leases were approved without Navajo Nation input, David Evans, district manager of BLM’s Farmington District Field Office, disagreed. “We do contact the Nation concerning all of our leasing activities and have done that for many, many years. In fact, we’ll defer lease sales for two cycles in order to provide adequate opportunity for consultation to occur.” BLM representatives have met with the Counselor community and have tried to respond with information and mitigation for some of their concerns. They also have met with tribal officials as part of an ongoing consultation with the Nation, Evans said. Bill Papich of the field office said on-site visits are conducted for every proposed well location. “We go out there and walk the land with a company representative or whoever.” BLM permits pipelines through a right of way process, Evans said. “We do issue rights of way that are often in proximity to existing roads to minimize the amount of disturbance, but they are generally well off the side of the road.” “Probably 95 percent of the wells within the field office have been fracked. Much of the technology was developed here in the San Juan Basin,” Evans said. The BLM conducts quarterly lease sales, with the next one scheduled for January. Nominations of parcels for oil and gas development have been received and an environmental assessment is required. A public comment period is under way to identify any issues. Comments are due no later than Aug. 5 to [email protected].
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 22:33:18 +0000
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