After almost three years of campaigning Northern Plains Resource Council (NPRC) won a major victory July 18 to protect landowners from oil and gas development in Carbon County, Montana. The new regulations give landowners the right to receive baseline water testing, a 750-feet minimum setback of oil and gas wells from homes, and dust control on roads.
“We are supportive of what the Commissioners have done for the future of Carbon County,” said Susann Beug, Chair of the NPRC affiliate Carbon County Resource Council (CCRC) in a press release issued by NPRC.
Local members of the Northern Plains affiliate Carbon County Resource Council (CCRC) were spurred to action nearly three years ago when Energy Corporation of America announced it would drill along the Beartooth Front. CCRC members have been meeting with citizens across the region to hear concerns, providing research to the Planning Board, and offering input as the process moved along.
The oil and gas regulations were developed and adopted by the Carbon County Planning Board in May prior to coming to the County Commission today for approval.
Setbacks Across the WORC Network
Many groups in the WORC network have been seeking similar protections to those that NPRC won in Carbon County, specifically setbacks. NPRC, Dakota Resource Council, Powder River Basin Resource Council, Western Colorado Congress, and Idaho Organization of Resource Councils all have longstanding campaigns to increase minimum state oil well setbacks. Dakota Resource Council was successful in 2009 in moving the minimum setback from 350-feet to 500-feet, and Powder River was successful in moving the minimum setback in Wyoming from 350 feet to 500-feet in 2015. Western Colorado Congress gained an increased setback in Colorado in 2013, which amounted to 500 feet from homes and 1000-feet from high occupancy buildings. Idaho Organization of Resource Councils urged unsuccessfully regulators in hearings to increase in the statewide setback in Idaho and is now working on the county level.
What’s next for Northern Plains
Though this is a big victory for NPRC and they should celebrate, Montana still lacks a minimum setback distance for oil and gas development. NPRC plans to continue to work towards getting a statewide minimum setback, while working at the local level in communities that want to increase the minimum setback for oil and gas development.
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