Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in the Uintah Basin

A public workshop to discuss “Opportunities and Constraints to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development” was held in Vernal Utah on October 14, 2010 at the Vernal campus of Utah State University.  The workshop was sponsored by Utah State University, The Bingham Energy Research Center, The University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center, and the Environmentally Friendly Drilling Project.  See "EFD and USU Project Overview" for more details about the larger project that led to the workshop.

The meeting included presentations and panel discussions on:

• Trends and environmental issues related to natural gas development
• Examples of environmental innovations being used in the Uintah Basin
• Examples of innovation & tools from outside the Uintah Basin
• Regulations and environmental policies: friend or foe?  A panel discussion with government leaders

A copy of the final workshop agenda and copies of the powerpoint presentations for each speaker can be found below.

The 145 attendees represented a range of regional and local energy industry actors, representatives from local, state, tribal, and federal government agencies, university scientists, and local community residents.  A list of registered participants can be found below.

For more information about the workshop and the Uintah Basin EFD project, contact Douglas Jackson-Smith at Utah State University (doug.jackson-smith (at) usu.edu).

Full Agenda [pdf] :: Participant List [pdf] :: EFD and USU Project Overview [pdf]

Presentations (all in pdf)

ACTS: Anadarko Completion Transport System
Jeff Dufresne, Completions Manager, Greater Natural Buttes, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

Assessing Opportunities and Barriers to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Oil and Gas Development in Utah
Douglas Jackson-Smith, Lorien Belton, Brian Gentry (Utah State University) and Gene Theodori (Sam Houston State University)

Drilling Waste
Blake Scott, Scott Environmental Services, Inc.

Engaging Stakeholders
Duane Zavadil, Bill Barrett Corporation

Enhanced Reclamation Program
Stephanie Tomkinson, Senior Biologist, QEP Energy Company

The Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program
David Burnett, Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program

Geospatial Decision Support For Shale Gas Site Development
Malcolm Williamson, Jackson Cothren, and Peter Smith, Center For Advanced Spatial Technologies

Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP Project
Kathryn Mutz, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado at Boulder

A Working Model for Oil and Gas Produced Water Treatment
Lee Shafer, Integrity Production Services, Inc., Presenter for Anticline Disposal LLC

sponsors

USU  Bingham Entrepreneurship & Energy Research Center (BEERC)
HARC Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program
RPSEA: Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America
University of Colorado Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP Project