WHITNEY ROYSTER Star-Tribune environmental reporter | Posted: Tuesday, November 7, 2006 12:00 am
PINEDALE - New Pinedale Anticline Working Group members focused Monday on regaining public trust for the group charged with monitoring the impacts of development on the major natural gas field.
"I've heard from a lot of different people saying this thing is kind of a screwed-up mess, and we've got to get this off on the right foot," said David Bell, the group's new chairman.
Bell, who represents landowners on the PAWG, said the first step may be to meet with people serving on individual "task groups" to understand their positions. Those groups are essentially subcommittees that focus on specific areas of impact, including wildlife, air and water quality, and transportation.
Paul Hagenstein, representing ranchers on the PAWG, said the task groups are key to the success of the PAWG, as the volunteer members bring expertise the Bureau of Land Management "couldn't buy."
"I can tell you right now they're just as frustrated as we are" about the PAWG's lack of process, Hagenstein said.
The PAWG is a BLM experiment to allow local people to help guide the level and pace of development in the gas-rich anticline, which begins northwest of Pinedale and stretches about 30 miles to the southeast in Sublette County. The group came under fire in recent months after the first members' terms expired, which stalled recommendations, and many former members said the group's purpose had been muddied.
"I am hoping that after six years, the BLM will finally close the loop and respond to PAWG's recommendations," former PAWG chairwoman Linda Baker said. She said the group is making recommendations based on the best available information, and monitoring by the BLM is often "piecemeal."
Dennis Stenger, Pinedale field manager for the BLM, said many of the PAWG's previous recommendations were actually incorporated by the BLM. The BLM presented a 17-page document outlining the status of the previous PAWG recommendations, and many of those were listed as having been accepted by the BLM, or "pending" more review. Others were deemed not applicable, as the recommendations were thought to be outside the PAWG charter.
There was also confusion on whether the PAWG could make recommendations before an official decision is made by the BLM. The agency has said the group's role is post-decisional.
The group is also designed to make recommendations on "adaptive management," but some former members said any recommendations were diluted.
Current PAWG members also questioned how quickly the BLM can act on or fund a recommendation.
Robin Smith, representing energy operators on the PAWG, said when data indicate there is a problem, waiting two or three years to correct the problem "is not a very popular option."
Stenger suggested having a formal recommendation process so the BLM can formally respond. He said it is the BLM's responsibility to implement correctional action as soon as possible.
Sandy Wise, a member-at-large and geologist who has worked in the minerals industry during his career, suggested the focus should be on getting energy companies to voluntarily change practices, rather than going through the BLM.
"There seems to be no teeth in anything, really," he said. Operators are responsible, and if there are reasonable recommendations, "I don't think there'd be any question they'd do it."
Smith said "one of the pitfalls" he's seen the PAWG fall into is "trying to solve world hunger, as I've described it."
"We aren't here to tell the BLM how to do their business, and we're not here to tell the operators how to do their business, either," he said. "We're here to answer whether mitigation is effective." If more mitigation is needed, PAWG passes that recommendation on to the BLM, he said.
Environmental reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@tribcsp.com.