By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press Writer
BILLINGS Fidelity
Exploration & Production Co. has
applied to the state for permits to
distribute water from its coal-bed
methane operations to ranchers
and mines.
Distributing
water to others
for beneficial
uses is considered
“water
marketing,”
though Bruce
Williams, vice
president of
operations for
Fidelity, said
the energy
development
firm would get
no compensation
for piping
the “developed”
water to interested
parties. The water would be
used for such things as livestock
ponds or dust suppression, he
said.
Drilling for coal-bed methane
involves releasing large amounts
of groundwater to relieve the
pressure holding the natural gas
in coal seams. Some ranchers
and conservationists say the
water can be salty and harm
crops. Concerns also have been
raised about where the water is
put.
The permits would allow
Fidelity to distribute roughly 10
percent to 20 percent of the water
that comes with developing the
gas in southern Montana, he said.
For now, most of the methane
waste water still would be discharged,
in some form, into the
Tongue River, Williams said.
“I think, from
our standpoint,
this is the common-
sense thing
to do with quality
water,”
Williams said of
the permit applications.
Some conservationists
question
that.
Ray Muggli, a
farmer who
takes irrigation
water from the
Tongue, believes
the state should
require Fidelity to reinject the
water into the ground. Clint
McRae, a rancher and, like
Muggli, a member of the conservationist
Northern Plains
Resource Council, sees all this as
Fidelity simply “trying to get rid
of a problem.”
“I’m not convinced this is the
way we should be developing
coal-bed methane,” McRae said.
Fidelity is seeking two permits
that would allow for water from
operations in southern Montana
to be marketed and distributed
under individual agreements. One
would apply to Big Horn County,
the other to Sheridan County, in
northern Wyoming, said Jack
Stults, administrator of the
Montana Department of Natural
Resources and Conservation’s
Water Resources Division. Stults’
agency would issue the permits.
He said water marketing
applications have been rare in
recent decades.
Stults said certain criterion
must be met. For example, applicants
need to prove what they’re
seeking constitutes a beneficial
use of water, that the water is
available, and that the actions
won’t adversely affect existing
water rights, he said.
Members of the public have
until July 10 to object to the proposals,
but need a form from the
agency to do so, Stults said. If
there are objections, a hearing
will be held before a hearings’
examiner, with a decision by the
agency to follow sometime later,
he added.
Williams said some water
already is being distributed under
a temporary permit.
He said piping the water
where it’s wanted creates some
added cost for the company. But,
he said, the company benefits in
its relationship with landowners
and from having less water discharged
into the Tongue.
