The US Department of Energy will provide $4.4 million to help seven organizations finance projects to help oil and natural gas operators meet environmental standards at lower cost.
Sponsors will contribute $2.3 million. Exact funding levels will be determined during contract negotiations.
DOE will award the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission $1.5 million to expand a variety of ongoing environment-related projects with oil and gas producing states. The projects include technical and training assistance, regulatory streamlining, data management standardization, and dialogue on regional oil and gas issues.
The University of Tulsa will get $776,000 to employ risk assessment techniques to gauge the likelihood of damage to soil ecosystems from spills of produced fluid such as oil and brine. The study will identify spill causes and determine appropriate clean-up standards.
The Ground Water Projection Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, Okla., was allocated $725,000 to develop a personal computer-based data management tool that state agencies can use. The foundation will begin with a three-state project to collect environmental data on hydraulic fracturing of coal beds.
TDA Research Inc., Wheat Ridge, Colo., will field test a process for removing sulfur contaminants from gas that could prove to be less complex and cheaper than conventional clean-up technologies. The DOE will provide $700,000.
Arthur Langhus Layne LLC, Tulsa, will receive $400,000 for a project to study how advances in geographic information systems technologies can be applied to reduce environmental concerns when gas is produced from Montana coalbeds.
DOE will fund $200,000 of a project by the Energy Education Partnership Inc., Oklahoma City, to develop a pilot training program for operators, regulators, and emergency response teams to handle oil and gas facility fires, explosions, and other emergencies.
Gnomon Inc., Carson City, Nev., will receive $153,000 to develop a model for making decisions about relocating oil and gas wells away from archeological, historical, or other culturally significant sites.
