WORC and its allies got a big win when Federal Judge Scott Skavdahl rejected efforts January 16 to block new methane standards by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that would reduce waste of natural gas on federal and tribal lands.
“This is good news for people living in oil country,” said Pat Wilson, a rancher from Bainville, Mont., and member of Northern Plains Resource Council. “Flaring, venting, and leaking are extremely short-sighted practices that waste an important resource, and pose serious threats to our health. The BLM standards are a much-needed set of protections for rural Montanans, and the judge’s decision will allow them to go into effect as planned.”
Methane standards target waste
Finalized in November 2016, and set to take effect January 17, the BLM standards require oil and gas producers to take measures to limit the flaring, venting, and leaking of natural gas from federally leased onshore oil and gas wells. In doing so, the standards would curb waste, protect the health of nearby residents, and provide a fair return on public resources for U.S. taxpayers, tribes, and states.
“These commonsense rules will help end flaring, venting, and leaks that waste natural gas, while also providing concrete health benefits to communities throughout the West by reducing pollution from the oil and gas industry,” said Lisa DeVille, WORC Board member and Dakota Resource Council member from Mandaree, N.D.
DeVille lives on the Fort Berthold Reservation, where, she said, many of the estimated 1,500 oil and gas wells flare 24-7.
Legal action
Opponents of the standards, including the attorneys general of Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, filed a lawsuit against the rules and requested a preliminary injunction against the protections. If granted, the injunction would have put the standards on hold during litigation. Judge Skavdahl of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming denied that request, meaning that the rules will go into effect as planned.
“It strikes close to home for us,” Wilson added. “Our ranch sits amid extensive oil and gas development, and we live with the impacts of that. My wife started to develop some severe respiratory difficulties right around the time that the Bakken boom cropped up. Now, we spend part of every year in New Mexico, in large part because of her health. And it’s made a huge difference for her. In Bainville, she uses her inhaler two or three times a day. Where we live in New Mexico, she might use it three or four times over the course of the winter.”
Flaring, venting, and leaking are widespread practices among oil and gas producers. Between 2009 and 2014, oil and gas producers on public and tribal lands vented, flared, and leaked about 375 billion cubic feet of natural gas — or enough to supply heat to about 1 million households over that same time period.
These emissions not only affect human health, they also damage the climate. Methane is about 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide, as a greenhouse gas. About one-third of all methane emissions in the United States comes from oil and gas operations.
Elected officials and community members across the West have voiced support for the standards. In a recent bipartisan poll, 80 percent of respondents in the region expressed support for the BLM’s efforts to limit the waste of natural gas.
Challenges ahead
Although this decision marks a time to celebrate, the rules are vulnerable to attacks in the coming months. Members of Congress have stated that they intend to use the Congressional Review Act to roll-back the methane standards, and the rules are still under challenge — though in effect — in this court case. WORC is an intervenor in this lawsuit and will oppose attempts to roll back the rules in Congress.
“We will continue to fight to ensure BLM’s methane waste rules stay intact and in effect,” DeVille said.
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WORC Groups Take the Trump Administration to Court Over Gutting BLM Methane Rule
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Members Make Case in Washington DC to Keep Methane Protections