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ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING
AUGUST 12, 2002- 10:00 A.M.
Members Present: Wendy Hutchinson, Chair - Gillette Site
Tom Dunn, Vice-Chair - Laramie Site
Robert Rawlings, Secretary - Diamondville
Nick Bettas - Diamondville
Lisa Lindemann- Casper Site
Dr. Jason Shogren - Laramie Site
Olin Sims - Laramie Site
Members Absent: None
Others Present: Terri Lorenzon, Director/EQC, Cheyenne, vVY; Joe Girardin,
Paralegal, EQC, Cheyenne, VVY; Mike Ebsen, Wyoming State Engineer's Office,
Cheyenne, VVY; John McKinley, Davis & Cannon, Cheyenne, VVY; Ed Harris,
attorney for RAG Coal West, Inc., Holland & Hart, Cheyenne, VVY; John
Burbridge, Assistant Attorney General for DEQ/LQD, Cheyenne, vVY; J ohn
Passehl, DEQIVVQD, Cheyenne, VVY; Maggie Allely, Assistant Attorney Gen eral for
DEQ/WQD, Ch eyenne, VVY; Steven Laird, RAG Coal West, Inc., Gillette, vVY; Sara
A. Klahn, White & Jankowski, LLP, attorney for the PRBRC; Jill Morrison,
PRBRC, Sheridan, VVY; Karla Oksanen , Gillette, VVY; Carol Roe, Gillette, VVY; and
numer ous other persons wer e in attendance .
Sites: Cheyenne 2 - City Center Building, 1920 T homes, Suite 4 10,
Cheyenne, VVY
Gillette 2 - U .W. Outreach Office, 720 W. 8t
11 , Annex D, Gillette, VVY
Lar amie 2 - U.W. College of Education, Rm. 117, 14th & Lewis,
Laramie, VVY
Sheridan 2 -Sheridan College, Griffith Memorial Bldg., Rm. GMB
011 , 3059 Coffeen Avenue, Sheridan, VVY
Kemmerer -Kemmerer High School, SwitchNet CV Rm. , 1525 W.
3ro Ave., Diamondville, VVY
Casp er 2 - U.W. Outreach Center, 951 North Poplar, Room 107,
Casper, VVY
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Terri Lorenzon made the announcement at the Cheyenne site that the Chair,
Wendy Hutchinson, will be presiding from the Gillette site; Dr. Shogren, Olin
Sims, and Tom Dunn at the Laramie site; Nick Bettas and Robert Rawlings at the
Kemmerer High School site in Diamondville; Lisa Lindemann at the Casper site.
Other persons were also in attendance.
Call to Order:
Chair Hutchinson opened the meeting of the Council at 10:06 a.m. on Monday,
August 12, 2002 via videoconferencing. She announced that all members of the
Council are present.
Approval of the April 29, 2002 Meeting Minutes:
Olin Sims said he would like the minutes to reflect that Dallas Johannsen who
attended the meeting be shown as a member of the "Natural Resources
Conservation Service."
Tom Dunn suggested some minor word changes on page 3 and page 9. The
corrections would not change the meaning of the paragraphs.
After the changes and corrections were noted, Olin Sims moved to accept the
April 29 meeting minutes. Tom Dunn seconded the motion.
Chair Hutchinson called for the vote. The motion carried noting that Nick Bettas
abstained.
Approval of Orders:
1. TJS Trailer Park, EQC Docket No. 02-3409, DEQ Docket No. 3358-02 -
Order Approving NOV & Order:
Wendy Hutchinson wanted a clarification on why the Order stated "McGee Mobile
Home Park" instead ofTJS Trailer Park.
Gary Beach said it is flawed and should be pulled from the agenda.
Wendy Hutchinson agreed that it should be pulled. She also asked about the
current status of the mobile home park.
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Gary Beach said they are proceeding to abate the violation by putting m a
leachfield to correct the surfacing sewage.
2. Fidelity Exploration & Production Co., EQC Docket No. 02-3410, DEQ
Docket No. 3359-02- Order Approving NOV & Order:
Gary Beach explained that a coal bed methane reservoir, located north of
Sheridan off of Youngs Creek, had a breach in the dam. WQD issued this NOV
because of the released coal bed methane water. The incident occurred on
J anuary 21, 2002. The operator estimated about 58,000 barrels of coal bed
methane water was released from the failed containment dike and probably some
or all of that water reached Youngs Creek. The reason for the failure was either a
failure to properly compact the berm or wave action. The operator reported the
discharge shortly after its occurrence and took steps to correct the problem.
Olin Sims asked whether a final inspection was done on the reservoir by the State
Engineer's Office, or whether it was exempt due to its size .
Gary Beach did not know if an inspection was performed by the State Engineer.
vVendy Hutchinson stated that if the State Engineer's Office is not resp onsible for
this, or if you just don't know, is ther e anybody in the WQD that insp ected the
dams during or at con struction or since the breach h as happen ed and been
repaired ?
Gary Beach said they inspect all containment structures at some time either
before or after their construction. But in this case, after the report was received
abou t the spill, their local inspector made the inspection two days after the spill to
confirm that proper cleanup h ad occurred and the dike had been r epaired . H e
said the Wyoming Oil & Gas Commission also inspects these structures, as well as
the State Engineer. It's more probable that the DEQ inspectors or the Wyoming
Oil & Gas Commission inspectors insp ect these structures than the State
En gineer.
Olin Sims asked whether th e d ownstream water users or landowners were notified
of th e spill.
Gary Beach did not believe they were notified. T he water that would h ave gone
into Youngs Cr eek would have gone into the Tongu e River, so there would h ave
been a lot of landowners and irrigators downstr eam to be notified. Probably
58,000 barrels would h ave been non-detectable in the Tongue River at the time
the spill occurred.
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