November 2, 2006
BY JOHN R. CRANE
The Cortez Journal
Kinder Morgan wants to drill two carbon-dioxide wells in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is seeking comments on the proposal.
The wells would be located in the Yellow Jacket and McElmo Dome units near Mockingbird Mesa and Burro Point, with surface disturbance expected to be 7.43 acres.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument contains American Indian ruins, covers about 164,000 acres and is home to more than 6,000 recorded archaeological sites. The monument is managed for multiple use.
Amber Clark, public lands coordinator with the San Juan Citizens Alliance, said she is disappointed to see more oil-and-gas development in the monument.
"Exploration and development related to gas and oil is one of the greatest threats facing Canyons of the Ancients," Clark said. In addition, Clark expressed concern over whether drilling would meet the conditions of approval.
"We're concerned that BLM doesn't have the ability to properly monitor the drilling of these wells," she added. "The agency simply doesn't have the resources necessary to have someone on the ground making sure conditions of approval are being met."
Ken Havens, director of source and transportation for Kinder Morgan in Houston, said the company stakes out already-used sites and strives to meet conditions of approval during drilling.
"We try hard to look for previously-disturbed territory for wells and utilize existing roads rather than disturb new areas, if at all possible," Havens said.
"We're very aware of the many areas that need to be protected," he added.
In addition, Kinder Morgan lets the monument's managers know of desecration or other improper activity happening in Canyons of the Ancients, he said. Anasazi Heritage Center officials manage the monument.
Havens said the two wells would increase its CO2 production by 30 million cubic feet per day each.
Kinder Morgan produces about 1 billion cubic feet of carbon dioxide in the area per day, making up about 90 percent of fluid mineral production in Montezuma County. When CO2 is extracted from the ground, it's about 95 percent gas and 5 percent fluid. Itconverted to liquid before it's sent to Denver City, Texas, and the Permian Basin of southeastern New Mexico and west Texas for use in oil-recovery fields.
Carbon dioxide enhances sites' oil extraction by repressurizing rock formations so oil moves through the rock. Also, the CO2 acts as a solvent, reducing oil viscosity and pushing the oil to the surface.
Clark does not want to see a repeat of what happened earlier this year when Farmington, N.M.,-based Bayless Drilling violated surface-use conditions of approval while drilling at North Mail Trail No. 1 in Canyons of the Ancients.
Violations included having a torn liner over a waste-water pit, exposing surface and groundwater to toxins, failing to put bird netting over the pit, and driving off road into unauthorized areas, the Durango Herald reported in April.
"We hope something like that doesn't happen again," Clark said.
Havens reiterated Kinder Morgan's compliance with permit conditions.
"We strive hard to follow all the conditions of the surface-use permit," Havens said.
According to the BLM's environmental assessment of the project, Kinder Morgan's two wells would be located within Montezuma County, about 20 to 25 miles west and northwest of Cortez at Woods and Negro canyons. Each well pad would be about three acres, with associated access roads and pipelines adding about another acre.
Clark said she is pleased the proposed well locations will not require construction of new access roads, but said there would be impacts to the landscape, vegetation, wildlife habitat and air quality.
Houston-based Kinder Morgan operates 52 wells and four plants in Montezuma County, extracting carbon dioxide and processing the largest-known CO2 deposit - the McElmo Dome - in the world. The dome covers 203,000 acres from south of McElmo Canyon into Dolores County.
The company's CO2 production generated about $3.2 million in tax revenue for Montezuma County in 2005, and is projected to bring the county about $5.1 million in tax money in 2006, said Dona Dunsmore, oil-and-gas clerk with the county assessor's office.
Kinder Morgan's network includes a 30-inch, 504-mile pipeline that stretches from Southwest Colorado to Denver City, Havens said.
Written public comment on the proposal to drill new wells in Canyons of the Ancients must be postmarked by Monday, Nov. 27, and mailed to Manager, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, 27501 HWY 184, Dolores, CO 81323. No electronic or oral comments will be accepted.
The environmental assessment can be viewed at the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument's Web site at www.co.blm.gov/canm/canmnepadocs.htm.