RE:RE:RE:From Flagstaff city council, sept 2020By reading the city council report, I see two important variables that give us the city's and environmentalists orientations. This said, we don't know the position of the new city council:
The U.S. Geological Survey has many publications on the geology and direction that groundwater moves within the Little Colorado River watershed and groundwater basins beneath. From this and other information, staff have determined an “area of concern” within which any activities involving mineral or oil and gas exploration or development may pose a risk to Flagstaff’s water resources. Staff suggest the city’s area of concern is a 30-mile radius surrounding the city’s existing and future proposed well fields. It's clear that a neutral zone of 30 miles was the vision. What would be the impact of a neutral zone for the drilling plans of DME ??
Hydraulic fracturing on the other hand, or proppant stimulation, uses sand, fluid and high pressure to fracture rock and expose more of the resource for extraction. The resulting impact is a much larger foot point from the point of injection.
• The use of acid is not in and of itself a concern as acid is commonly used in drinking water wells to remove mineral scale and build up. However, it is important these products are used correctly and as intended.
• Staff do suggest council consider submitting a public comment with regard to general permitting concerns and where staff suggest protection of water sources may be lacking.
• Since there can rarely be guarantee of full containment with fractured rock strata, and the ADEQ permit allows for the permittee to self-regulate all cement seals with no requirement of a Point of Compliance (POC) well, the city could issue a formal statement with the request for tighter regulation: ADEQ staff site visits, daily field oversight from a 3rd party consultant, the actual drilling and monitoring at POC wells.
They are clearly asking for a control in order to make sure that no fracking is involved. They also ask ADEQ for a third party to monitor the situation because they don't trust DME on the quality of their cement.
In resume:
Wathever the monitoring by a third party put in place (negociation opportunity), it will not adress the concerns about the 30 miles radius.
This will take time.
We don't know the orientations of the new city council.
The Biden administration is environmentally friendly.
Misinformation can lead to drastic actions by environmentalists or others.
A lot of uncertainty will be a drag for DME.
This company better be fast to adress the concerns and downplay the obstacles.