BLM plans regional forums to discuss hydraulic fracturing

April 4, 2011
The US Bureau of Land Management will hold three regional forums in late April to further discuss the use of hydraulic fracturing to produce natural gas from tight shale formations on federal onshore lands, BLM Director Robert V. Abbey announced on Apr. 1.

Nick Snow
OGJ Washington Editor

WASHINGTON, DC, Apr. 4 -- The US Bureau of Land Management will hold three regional forums in late April to further discuss the use of hydraulic fracturing to produce natural gas from tight shale formations on federal onshore lands, BLM Director Robert V. Abbey announced on Apr. 1.

He said the sessions, which will build on a November 2010 forum at the US Department of the Interior in Washington, DC, will be held in Bismarck, ND; Little Rock, Ark.; and Denver. Dates and specific locations will be announced later.

Abbey said scheduled discussion topics will include best management practices, disclosure of the chemicals used in fracing fluids, well construction and integrity, production wastewater management, and other techniques for protecting drinking water resources. Panelists will include experts from federal and state governments, industry, and environmental organizations which have been engaged in gas development issues, he said.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].