GILLETTE - It took nearly a year for the Wyoming state engineer's office to sort out a massive enforcement case regarding illegal coal-bed methane water reservoirs in Campbell County.

Deputy State Engineer Harry LaBonde said the agency had to push through a backlog of permitting work and cooperate closely with multiple landowners and coal-bed methane operators to complete the task.

"We were slogging through the last few facilities to either get them breached or permitted in the last 30 days," LaBonde said recently.

In January, the agency said contract field inspectors had found what appeared to be more than 150 unpermitted in-channel coal-bed methane reservoirs on Rawhide Creek. The industry commonly uses reservoirs to hold water discharged from coal-bed methane wells. One of the most common types of reservoirs - on-channel - is created by constructing a dam in an existing drainage.

By late February, the agency determined there were 75 illegal reservoirs, 39 that were still in the permitting process and 103 legally permitted reservoirs on Rawhide Creek.

Operators opted to breach a total of 12 illegal reservoirs rather than permit them. The state engineer's office permitted an additional 57 reservoirs and determined that 43 reservoirs did not need permits, according to LaBonde.

No penalties were levied regarding unpermitted reservoirs.

"Once it was brought to our attention we took action and worked as closely as we could with the state engineer's office to get something resolved," said John Robitaille, vice president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.

"Whether they were permitted or breached, we wanted them accounted for," Robitaille added.

Robitaille said the case prompted his association to urge operators to double-check their facilities statewide to make sure all water reservoirs were properly permitted.

The state engineer's office estimates there are about 2,000 on-channel and off-channel reservoirs in the Powder River Basin used to manage coal-bed methane water. And the office continues to receive about 1,000 permit applications from the industry annually.

"Permit (applications) continue to flow in," LaBonde said.

The Rawhide Creek issue prompted new legislation this year allowing the state engineer's office to levy a monetary penalty for unpermitted coal-bed methane reservoirs. The 2005 Legislature also approved an additional $387,000 for the agency to handle the permitting load and to conduct field inspections.

The agency used $120,000 to add two new positions in the Cheyenne office and $40,000 for overtime to work through a backlog of permit applications. It spent $77,000 to create a new position in Sheridan for a full-time dam inspector.

And $150,000 is being used to pay contract field inspectors in the Powder River Basin.

Last week, Gov. Dave Freudenthal recommended directing another $423,000 to the state engineer's office to deal with ongoing coal-bed methane-related issues.

Reservoir compliance

The state engineer's office conducted an inventory of coal-bed methane water reservoirs on Rawhide Creek in Campbell County. This was the status on Feb. 24, 2005:

* Permitted 103

* Pending application 39

* No permit needed 6

* Illegal, no permit 75

TOTAL 223

Here is the current inventory:

* Permitted 160

* Pending application 8

* No permit needed 43

* Illegal, no permit 0

TOTAL 211

Note: Operators opted to breach a total of 12 illegal reservoirs rather than get permits for them.

Source: State engineer's office

News Tracker

* Last we knew: In January, the state engineer's office discovered a large number of illegal coal-bed methane reservoirs in Campbell County.

* The latest: The agency has worked through a permit backlog, and the illegal reservoirs were either permitted or breached.

* What's next: The agency expects to maintain a field inspection program.

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 682-3388 or dustin.bleizeffer@casperstartribune.net.