Paula Dittrick
Senior Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 25 -- US state and federal air quality and environmental agencies are contemplating how to better estimate and measure the level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions coming from oil and gas production facilities.
Bill Harnett, director of the air quality policy division of the US Environmental Protection Agency, outlined these efforts during a Sept. 24 speech to the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission annual meeting in New Orleans.
VOCs can contribute to ground-level ozone levels. The EPA Office of Air and Radiation is considering a partnership with oil companies and environmental agencies of western states to conduct field tests that could start next year in two or three states that have yet to be determined.
The federal government probably will provide the initial funding, which Harnett estimates at $400,000 at least. Initial tests are likely to be in Colorado, Wyoming, or New Mexico.
The plan is to bag or tent possible sources of emissions and to measure the emissions over a number of days yet to be determined, he said. The process will be similar to emissions tests already done at refineries and chemical plants.
A draft methodology would be developed and distributed to the industry for comment. Testing will be primarily for VOC emissions leaking from equipment on production sites. Thousands of wells are being drilled or are scheduled to be drilled in the western US.
Better estimates needed
Harnett said regulators working on air quality models need better emissions estimates from oil and gas production. Another goal also is to determine if oil and gas production is in compliance with federal and state standards, particularly in existing nonattainment areas under the National Ambient Air Quality Standard.
The US Bureau of Land Management needs better air emissions estimates to assess the possible environmental impacts of proposed leasing, he said. Information is needed from multiple states, fields, and from different types of equipment.
"We will be asking industry how to gather the best data of the greatest use to all," Harnett told IOGCC.
Recently, representatives of six states met with EPA and BLM representatives in Pinedale, Wyo., to discuss how to better estimate and measure emissions from oil and gas facilities, Harnett said.
That technical meeting was hosted by the Western States Air Resources Council, an organization representing 15 western states. Initial emissions field tests would not measure for greenhouse gas emissions.
Carbon capture, storage
In a separate session, an IOGCC task force leader said existing state gas storage statutes and regulatory frameworks should guide future carbon capture and storage (CCS) legislation.
Lawrence Bengal, chair of the Arkansas Oil & Gas Commission and head of IOGCC's Carbon Capture and Geological Storage Regulatory Task Force, outlined the task force's findings.
"It's a certainty that one size will not fit all projects," he said. "The most important element will be a positive public presentation." He emphasized that CCS is part of a solution with economic and environmental benefits rather than a waste problem.
The task force proposed a state-administered CCS regulatory framework under the authorities of states wishing to participate. The task force was scheduled to release its final report on Sept. 26 following a Sept. 25 vote by IOGCC members at the New Orleans meeting.
The recommendations were expected to suggest well bonds for carbon dioxide injection wells, operational bonds for storage facilities, and state-administered trust funds to assume responsibility for oversight and liability issues.
The US Department of Energy and its National Energy Technology Laboratory provided funding for the IOGCC task force, which has completed two phases and plans a third phase (OGJ, Dec. 18, 2006, p. 36).
Bengal said the task force's third phase will involve fleshing out recommendations on property ownership issues and infrastructure guidance, particularly for pipelines.
"The closest thing to this now is abandoned well plugging programs," Bengal said of anticipated CCS programs.
Contact Paula Dittrick at [email protected].
