CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A landowners’ group is calling on Wyoming oil and gas regulators to strengthen proposed rules to increase the minimum distance between drilling rigs and dwellings.
The staff of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission this month proposed increasing the minimum setback distance for a vertically drilled well to 500 feet. The minimum setback for wells drilled into the ground and then horizontally would increase to 750 feet.
The current minimum distance is 350 feet for all drilling rigs.
The Powder River Basin Resource Council this week contacted Gov. Matt Mead and other commission members to ask that the setbacks be increased up to 750 feet for vertical wells and a quarter-mile for horizontal wells.
The five-member commission could vote next month to take public comment on final rules before implementing them.
“We wanted to take the opportunity in this interim to really put before them again some of the really important data coming out about how important it is to have a greater setback than 750 feet,” said Jill Morrison of the council. “Especially when you’re talking about these large well pads that have multiple wells, it’s not uncommon to see these wells where they have 20 to 30 wells on a pad.”
Having multiple wells drilled on a single pad can mean that work on a particular site can go on around the clock for years, Morrison said.
“It magnifies everything — a continual drilling operation, “Morrison said. “All the truck traffic, all the noise, all the lights, all the associated impacts that can occur. Basically it’s like living next to a big industrial site that’s operating 24 hours a day for years, when you have multiple wells on one pad.”
Michelle Panos, spokeswoman for Mead, said Tuesday that rules on setback have yet to undergo the administrative process which lays out a proposed distance and allows for public comment.
“Gov. Mead is pleased that we are discussing setbacks,” Panos said. “Wyoming is demonstrating our continuing leadership balancing positive energy development and protecting our environment and quality of life. He plans to allow the administrative process to determine the final setback distance.”
John Robitaille, vice president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said Tuesday that his group is still researching the setback issue to determine if the proposed rules would have a detrimental effect on mineral rights. He noted that the proposed rules would allow state regulators to increase or decrease the amount of the required setback for reasonable cause, which could include the effects of setbacks on the value of mineral rights.
