LARAMIE – Ignoring calls from the public and conservation groups to use directional drilling to minimize the destruction of the land, the BLM today approved a Jonah Infill drilling plan that will allow EnCana, a Canadian petroleum firm, to add up to 3,100 new wellsites to the already dense Jonah gas field. The BLM’s decision more than quadruples the acreage of the Jonah Field that will be converted from native habitat to industrial areas, and allows two-thirds of the project area to be bulldozed.

“It’s a bitter sacrifice when the BLM allows this level of destruction on public lands,” said Suzanne Lewis, Conservation Advocate for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “This project, as currently approved, is needlessly wasteful. EnCana is perfectly capable of using directional drilling to recover all of the gas under the Jonah Field with a minimal increase in surface disturbance over present levels, and it is impossible to comprehend how a federal agency with a multiple-use mandate can allow this kind of senseless destruction when alternatives are so readily available.”

“This project is a very serious environmental problem,” agreed Dr. John Bryant, an ecologist and resident of Cora on the outskirts of Pinedale. “Moreover, this decision clearly demonstrates that the current BLM does not care about the opinions of local residents when it comes to environmental policy.  In public meetings I have attended, the residents of the Pinedale area have been overwhelmingly opposed to high density drilling without sound scientific evidence that such drilling will not be a problem for wildlife. But the BLM simply did not care about the public’s opinion.” 

As of July 2005, EnCana had drilled more than 160 directional wells in the Jonah Field, but the Jonah Infill project permits the rest of the wells to be drilled vertically. This means that each well will require an individual wellsite that is cleared of native vegetation, instead of clustering up to 32 wells per wellpad, as is currently being pursued on the Pinedale Anticline field nearby.

“BLM can certainly require reasonably paced development and use of today’s improved technology,” said Linda Baker of the Upper Green River Valley Coalition.  “These are affordable and more responsible methods to development this natural gas resource while protecting human health, our incredible views, and abundant, high altitude fisheries.”

The excessive development of the Jonah Field will come at a heavy cost for wildlife. BLM’s Decision document noted that “existing sage-grouse protection measures appear to be inadequate within the JIDPA [Jonah Infill Drilling Project Area] and with the proposed increase in development, existing protection measures would be even less effective.” The BLM concluded that “the local population will likely be completely displaced and/or locally extirpated due to full-field development.” Record of Decision, p.6. BLM also recognized substantial impacts for pronghorns and other sensitive wildlife.

“This is a big loss for wildlife, because the wildlife of the Jonah Field will die or be displaced into adjacent habitats that may already be at their carrying capacities,” said Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “And throwing money in an off-site mitigation fund doesn’t solve anything, because there’s no evidence that we have enough knowledge to create or enhance sufficient wildlife habitat elsewhere to make up for the loss. Wildlife in this state are already being squeezed by a variety of new oil and gas projects, and new habitats simply aren’t appearing out of thin air to make up for the accelerating rate of habitat loss.”

The BLM’s analysis relies heavily on “interim reclamation,” or partial revegetation of wellsites, to allow some return of wildlife following the drilling period. But the agency’s own analysis shows that it may take 75-150 years for Wyoming big sagebrush, the habitat type that dominates the Jonah project area, to recover following disturbance.  The Jonah Infill project is likely take place over an estimated 76-105 years, not including additional time needed for reclamation.

“The public has repeatedly stated that the gas under the Jonah Field should be produced with the smallest possible impact, but the BLM has repeatedly ignored these concerns. By permitting a project that goes so far beyond the pale of responsible land management, the BLM is inviting a legal challenge,” said Lewis. “BCA will be examining this project very carefully.”

An aerial photo of the experimental mat drilling at the Jonah Field, at the dense well spacing approved under the Jonah Infill ROD, is available upon request for publication from Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.  The BLM’s decision document is available on the web by visiting http://www.wy.blm.gov/nepa/pfodocs/jonah/index.htm.

Dr. John Bryant, Emeritus Professor of Ecology and resident of Cora, Wyoming (307) 367-3717
Suzanne Lewis, Conservation Advocate, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978
Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978
Linda Baker, Upper Green River Valley Coalition, (307) 367-3670