http://m.bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/article_1518ee65-ee...
[FONT="]A multi-well oil pad above one of the busiest boat ramps on Lake Sakakawea is under extended review by federal land managers and already has been approved by the State Oil and Gas Division.
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[FONT="]Slawson Exploration Co. plans to drill 11 wells and direct them 3 miles laterally beneath the lake into the Bakken shale, a project a company spokesman says is its biggest multi-well pad to date.
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[FONT="]The pad for the rig platform, frack staging and well bores will be 1,000 feet from the Van Hook Resort boat ramp parking lot, part of a popular camping and recreation complex near New Town.
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[FONT="]Eric Sundberg, company environmental and regulatory manager, said its application has been in the works for almost four years and drilling could start next season, pending a final decision by the Bureau of Land Management. Sundberg said the storage tanks, flare pit and heater treater will be set back at least another half mile. A pipeline will transport the raw oil and brine to the production location.
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[FONT="]The pad was originally to be located only 300 feet from the boat ramp area, but got pushed back to protect the endangered piping plover. In past years, birds have nested in the boat ramp parking lot.
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[FONT="]BLM Dickinson field manager Loren Wickstrom said, because of the proposed project's proximity to the lake and visual impacts, he decided to extend a public comment period another 30 days through July 5.
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[FONT="]“In this case … I opted for an additional comment period,” said Wickstrom, adding the well is on Fort Berthold Reservation land so his only jurisdiction for an environmental assessment comes from the federally owned oil under the lake that Slawson has under lease.
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[FONT="]“I do have a little bit of flexibility. We did make them move 700 feet; it was going to be even closer to the marina,” Wickstrom said.
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[FONT="]Slawson has assured the agency that the drilling rig is a safe distance in the event of a rig collapse, or fall down.
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[FONT="]Terry Fleck, chairman of Friends of Lake Sakakawea and Van Hook cabin owner, said he’s appalled at the location even at 1,000 feet from the boat ramp instead of 300.
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[FONT="]“It’s unconscionable that anybody would put a well pad right above a boat ramp. On some occasions, that ramp gets used more than state park ramps. They’re going to stand up a drilling rig 1,000 feet from the boat ramp parking lot?” he said. “Where is our conscience and sense of social responsibility?”
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[FONT="]The Oil and Gas Division issued permits a year ago and those are on confidential status, says spokeswoman Alison Ritter.
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[FONT="]“However, generally speaking, wells in close proximity to the lake are given permit stipulations on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
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[FONT="]
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[FONT="]Dawn Ritts manages the Van Hook Resort as a concessionaire through Mountrail County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She said the first location just 300 feet from the parking lot was nerve wracking, but the further one is acceptable, even if it’s not ideal.
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[FONT="]“We can scream and holler, but, at the end of the day, there are wells everywhere around the lake,” she said. “We have no choice but to accept it and be happy that it’s Slawson. They’re always responsible and responsive and proactive at respecting the natural resources.”
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[FONT="]Slawson operates 300 wells in the Bakken. According to the State Health Department, it has reported 142 oil fluid spills, of which all but 31 were contained within the pad berm. One was a blowout, when it lost control of a well very near Lake Sakakawea. It spilled 800 barrels of oil and 400 barrels of salt water across from the Van Hook Resort, said department spill program manager Bill Suess.
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[FONT="]Suess said the company’s spill record doesn’t stand out among oil companies.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“We hardly ever hear about Slawson,” he said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The company was fined $62,500 for the blowout incident out of a potential $375,000 penalty, mostly for failing to report its frack chemicals within the allotted 60 days. It has been fined in four other spill incidents, according to Oil and Gas Division records.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Fleck said the fact that the company has had at least one well blowout raises fears there could be another one when hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are in the resort area.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“If they have to evacuate everybody, what will they do? If there’s an overspray and boats out there, will they run everybody out of the park?” he said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Sundberg said the company has employees who live in the Van Hook area and is one of nine companies that created the Sakakawea Area Spill Response, with equipment staged for water spill cleanups.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“As an industry, we know the importance of the lake. That’s in the core of our operations area,” Sundberg said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wickstrom said his decision will be based partly on comments he receives about the project.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“What we’re finding with these operations is that the easy locations have been drilled. The ones left are more complicated, both topographically and geopolitically,” he said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Comments can be emailed topwkelley@blm.com and jtowner@swca.com or mailed to SWCA, 116 N. Fourth St. No. 200, Bismarck, N.D., 58501.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]A multi-well oil pad above one of the busiest boat ramps on Lake Sakakawea is under extended review by federal land managers and already has been approved by the State Oil and Gas Division.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Slawson Exploration Co. plans to drill 11 wells and direct them 3 miles laterally beneath the lake into the Bakken shale, a project a company spokesman says is its biggest multi-well pad to date.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The pad for the rig platform, frack staging and well bores will be 1,000 feet from the Van Hook Resort boat ramp parking lot, part of a popular camping and recreation complex near New Town.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Eric Sundberg, company environmental and regulatory manager, said its application has been in the works for almost four years and drilling could start next season, pending a final decision by the Bureau of Land Management. Sundberg said the storage tanks, flare pit and heater treater will be set back at least another half mile. A pipeline will transport the raw oil and brine to the production location.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The pad was originally to be located only 300 feet from the boat ramp area, but got pushed back to protect the endangered piping plover. In past years, birds have nested in the boat ramp parking lot.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]BLM Dickinson field manager Loren Wickstrom said, because of the proposed project's proximity to the lake and visual impacts, he decided to extend a public comment period another 30 days through July 5.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“In this case … I opted for an additional comment period,” said Wickstrom, adding the well is on Fort Berthold Reservation land so his only jurisdiction for an environmental assessment comes from the federally owned oil under the lake that Slawson has under lease.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“I do have a little bit of flexibility. We did make them move 700 feet; it was going to be even closer to the marina,” Wickstrom said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Slawson has assured the agency that the drilling rig is a safe distance in the event of a rig collapse, or fall down.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Terry Fleck, chairman of Friends of Lake Sakakawea and Van Hook cabin owner, said he’s appalled at the location even at 1,000 feet from the boat ramp instead of 300.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“It’s unconscionable that anybody would put a well pad right above a boat ramp. On some occasions, that ramp gets used more than state park ramps. They’re going to stand up a drilling rig 1,000 feet from the boat ramp parking lot?” he said. “Where is our conscience and sense of social responsibility?”
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Oil and Gas Division issued permits a year ago and those are on confidential status, says spokeswoman Alison Ritter.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“However, generally speaking, wells in close proximity to the lake are given permit stipulations on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Dawn Ritts manages the Van Hook Resort as a concessionaire through Mountrail County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She said the first location just 300 feet from the parking lot was nerve wracking, but the further one is acceptable, even if it’s not ideal.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“We can scream and holler, but, at the end of the day, there are wells everywhere around the lake,” she said. “We have no choice but to accept it and be happy that it’s Slawson. They’re always responsible and responsive and proactive at respecting the natural resources.”
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Slawson operates 300 wells in the Bakken. According to the State Health Department, it has reported 142 oil fluid spills, of which all but 31 were contained within the pad berm. One was a blowout, when it lost control of a well very near Lake Sakakawea. It spilled 800 barrels of oil and 400 barrels of salt water across from the Van Hook Resort, said department spill program manager Bill Suess.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Suess said the company’s spill record doesn’t stand out among oil companies.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“We hardly ever hear about Slawson,” he said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The company was fined $62,500 for the blowout incident out of a potential $375,000 penalty, mostly for failing to report its frack chemicals within the allotted 60 days. It has been fined in four other spill incidents, according to Oil and Gas Division records.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Fleck said the fact that the company has had at least one well blowout raises fears there could be another one when hundreds, possibly thousands, of people are in the resort area.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“If they have to evacuate everybody, what will they do? If there’s an overspray and boats out there, will they run everybody out of the park?” he said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Sundberg said the company has employees who live in the Van Hook area and is one of nine companies that created the Sakakawea Area Spill Response, with equipment staged for water spill cleanups.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“As an industry, we know the importance of the lake. That’s in the core of our operations area,” Sundberg said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wickstrom said his decision will be based partly on comments he receives about the project.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]“What we’re finding with these operations is that the easy locations have been drilled. The ones left are more complicated, both topographically and geopolitically,” he said.
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Comments can be emailed topwkelley@blm.com and jtowner@swca.com or mailed to SWCA, 116 N. Fourth St. No. 200, Bismarck, N.D., 58501.
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