Aspen Provides Technical Assistance In The State And Federal Analyses Of Hydraulic Fracturing And Other Well Stimulation Treatments In CA
Aspen Environmental Group is currently providing assistance in the preparation of two programmatic environmental documents that are the first of their kind to analyze well-stimulation treatments specific to California. For the California Department of Conservation, Aspen is providing assistance in an Analysis of Oil and Gas Well Stimulation Treatments in the California Environmental Impact Report (EIR). For the Bureau of Land Management’s Hollister Field Office, Aspen is assisting in the preparation of the Hollister Oil and Gas Environmental Impact Statement and Resource Management Plan (EIS/RMP) Amendment. Both are scheduled to be released in 2015. Aspen’s research and work on these projects are at the forefront of informing the public, agencies, and decision-makers about the process and environmental impacts of well-stimulation treatments in California.
Across the nation, one type of well-stimulation treatment called hydraulic fracturing (also known as hydrofracturing, “fracking”, or “fracing”) is stirring up controversy and has become the focus of significant public attention. The process of hydraulic fracturing injects highly pressurized fluids and sand into a geologic formation, which creates fissures or pathways between the molecules that free oil and gas for production through wells.
Some of the nationwide issues of concern regarding oil and gas development, hydraulic fracturing, and acid stimulation treatments include the potential for: increased reliance on fossil fuels, groundwater and surface water contamination, high levels of methane emissions, introduction of industrial operations into rural areas and sensitive open spaces and habitats, and the potential for increased seismic activity.
Hydraulic fracturing for stimulation of oil and natural gas wells was first used in the United States in Kansas in 1947, and a few years later it was first used commercially. The method was rapidly adopted because of increased well performance and increased yields of oil and gas from relatively impermeable rock units. It has been used as a production stimulation method in California for more than 30 years, and it is used worldwide in tens of thousands of oil and natural gas wells annually.
Most of California’s oil and gas production to date has been from conventional resources, or vertical wells into traditional oil and natural gas reservoirs. However, the Monterey Formation is a non-conventional shale resource that stretches from east of San Francisco to more than 200 miles south to San Luis Obispo County. Although yet to be proven in California, the ability to capture hydrocarbon resources using hydraulic fracturing from zones in the Monterey Formation that previously could not be produced has become economically attractive to developers and has raised public interest and concern over well-stimulation.
On September 20, 2013, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 4 [Pavley, Ch 313, Stats of 2013]. Under the requirements of SB 4, the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) is required to prepare an EIR to provide the public with “detailed information” regarding any potential environmental effects associated with past, current, and future oil and gas well stimulation treatments, including hydraulic fracturing, within the State. This EIR will evaluate well-stimulation treatments geographically according to 6 study regions at a programmatic level of analysis for 23 environmental disciplines.
Aspen is also assisting the BLM Hollister Field Office in the process of preparing a RMP Amendment and associated EIS to guide the management of oil and gas resources on BLM-administered mineral estates within the Hollister Field Office. The EIS/RMP Amendment will analyze the effects of alternative oil and gas management approaches to update the reasonably foreseeable development scenario and the existing 2007 Hollister RMP in order to incorporate new information about well-stimulation technologies, natural resource conditions, and socioeconomic trends. The final amended RMP will identify which lands are open or closed to oil and gas leasing and which stipulations would be applied to oil and gas exploration and development activities in order to protect environmental resources.
Aspen is excited to be at the forefront of developing the methodologies, analyses, and proposed mitigations for these two groundbreaking and controversial projects in California. Information on both projects can be found at the agency websites below:
Analysis of Oil and Gas Well Stimulation Treatments in California EIR