Onshore Unconventional Hydrocarbon Development Legacy Issues and Innovations in Managing Risk–Day 1: Proceedings of a Workshop (2018) / Chapter Skim
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3 Infrastructure Inventories, Environmental Restoration, and Management
3 Infrastructure Inventories, Environmental Restoration, and Management
Pages 19-30
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. The concern was fugitive methane emissions which escape from various points along the natural gas supply chain and threaten to erode potential climate benefits of using natural gas.
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on methane emissions from inactive wells that suggested emissions that may constitute about four to seven percent of all anthropogenic emissions in that state. In addition to methane emissions, groundwater contamination issues are also of concern.
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RFF also examined the cost of plugging these wells, and in particular the orphan wells. Krupnick noted that the costs of plugging and abandoning these orphan wells were greater than the average bonding amount that was levied (Figure 3.2)
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Landscape Scale Planning and Siting of Shale Development -- an Energy by Design Approach to Reducing the Overall Environmental Footprint Michelle McGregor, the Nature Conservancy Energy development is the biggest driver of habitat loss in the United States, McGregor began, with energy development projects expanding into areas that previously were not at 2 For example, see "The State of State Shale Gas Regulation" report. Available at http://www.rff.org/research/ publications/state-state-shale-gas-regulation (accessed on January 9, 2017)
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-- which is based on a science and data-driven examination of the cumulative impacts of energy development on land, water, wildlife, and local communities, and helps optimize layouts for shale oil or gas well pads, roads, and pipelines to reduce those impacts.3 The tool incorporates existing environmental regulations and encourages exclusions and setbacks beyond regulatory minimum requirements, McGregor said, and was developed with technical contributions from industry and other stakeholders. The tool is currently optimized for the Appalachian region.
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In advancing the next generation of best practices in energy development, McGregor noted the strong efforts of numerous organizations in this arena including the American Petroleum Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, and at the state level. TNC took a science-based approach to best practices for energy development with special focus on impacts to the land surface and wildlife and a set of recommended practices for ecological buffers, road development, stream crossings, water withdrawals, timing of activities, noise, and artificial lighting.
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TNC continues to work with a multi-stakeholder group on planning and responsible siting of shale development projects, McGregor said, with key principles that include: • Promoting responsible siting of shale infrastructure that minimizes impacts to envi ronmental and cultural resources; • Reducing surface landscape footprint through actions such as co-locating infrastruc ture and relationship building; and • Integrating ecological and community considerations with geologic and economic factors at the earliest possible planning stage. The overarching principle for landscape-scale siting and planning is to develop and implement a comprehensive lifecycle plan demonstrating the full mitigation hierarchy to reduce impacts and increase transparency, McGregor said.
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The wells are drilled in both rural and more populated areas where communities may have varying levels of experience with oil and gas development. When regulating oil and gas development, state and local government in Texas also has to consider variations in climate, water resource availability, and geologic conditions, she said.
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Parker noted several states that have implemented similar programs to Texas, for example Louisiana and Oklahoma, where operators pay into dedicated funds for reclamation and cleanup at well sites. The future will require addressing tens to hundreds of thousands of wells but without a coherent funding mechanism presently in place to do so.
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Another participant asked how TNC will measure the effectiveness of their landscape planning tool in terms of conservation outcomes. McGregor noted that using the tool does not guarantee a conservation outcome but that the tool may help industry recognize opportunities to look at their projects on the scale of the full landscape to reduce the overall environmental footprint.
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Regarding taxes, she noted severance taxes are already established to help recover and compensate the public from possible future impacts from wells. Perhaps a review of some mechanisms that are already in place to mitigate potential future environmental risk might be warranted, the participant said.
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