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Helis launches website for St. Tammany project, and other political...

theneworleansadvocate.com  June 29, 2014

Helis Oil & Gas, the company that is seeking a permit to drill a fracking oil well in St. Tammany Parish, keeps an intentionally low corporate profile — so low that the company doesn’t even have a web page.

But with the opposition to the company’s planned Tammany well showing little sign of abating, Helis has altered that strategy and launched a slick new website specific to the St. Tammany Parish project at www.helisenergyproject.com.

Complete with bucolic pictures of azure skies, puffy white clouds, pine trees and the dirt road that leads to the 10-acre site where the company plans to put its well, the website endeavors to correct some of what the company calls “misinformation” floating around about the project, the parish’s aquifer and the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The website includes a description of Helis’ plans for the 960-acre tract from which it plans to harvest oil, a frequently-asked-questions page and a page of “fact versus fiction.”

Until the site was launched Wednesday, Helis’ statements on its plans had been restricted to letters and statements sent by a public relations firm. Helis’ executives have declined to attend any of the many public meetings on the project, saying they didn’t believe the often raucous public meetings provided a good environment for positive dialogue.

The company has said, however, that it is willing to meet in small groups with anyone, pointing to a meeting executives had with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, which opposes the plan.

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Helis detractors found somebody more powerful than the state, the Army Corps of Engineers.

An oil company seeking to drill a fracking well on the north shore hit a roadblock Tuesday.

The Army Corps of Engineers said Helis Oil Co.'s application was invalid after listening to concerns brought up during the public comment period.

Helis wants to drill near Log Cabin Road between Highway 1088 and Interstate 12. While the company insists it has a proven track record, many St. Tammany Parish residents worry the project could contaminate the parish's sole source of drinking water.

Helis can submit a revised application.

http://www.fox8live.com/story/26205935/helis-oil-drilling-permit-ap...

State Office of Conservation grants drilling permit for Helis Oil's project near Mandeville

Louisiana Fracking Debate
Representatives of Helis Oil Co. provide testimony to the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources during a public hearing on their proposal to explore for oil at a site using the fracking method at Lakeshore High School in Mandeville, La., on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014. It marked the first time the Department of Natural Resources has held a public hearing outside of its usual venue in Baton Rouge.

The state Office of Conservation has approved a drilling permit for Helis Oil & Gas Co.'s proposed drilling and fracking operation near Mandeville, moving the controversial project a step closer to reality. The approval was announced late Friday (Dec. 19) on the state Department of Natural Resources website.

The project still needs a wetlands permit from the Army Corps of Engineers and a water quality certification from the state Department of Environmental Quality before any work can begin.

"The permit is approved. But there are conditions," DNR spokesman Patrick Courreges said Friday evening.

The conditions include various points that were made at a public hearing DNR hosted Nov. 12 at Lakeshore High School north of Mandeville, including water and air testing, Courreges said. The drilling operation also must be a "closed-loop" system, meaning drilling mud and produced water from the well cannot be dumped into a pit, but must be put directly into tanks when brought to the surface, he said.

"It can never leave containment," Courreges said.

The questions about the air and water testing and fluid containment were brought up by attorneys representing the town of Abita Springs and the group Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany, who oppose the project.

"We put that as conditions on the permit," Courreges said. "We made it legally binding."

Helis spokesman Greg Beuerman said Friday evening the company was happy with the approval but had not yet fully examined the Office of Conservation's notice.

"Certainly, based on what we know right now, we are pleased," he said. "We are not terribly surprised that the application has been granted. We've been operating on that assumption all along.

"It's an important step in the process. We're gratified that it's occurred now, and we look forward to the process of moving ahead with this project."

Rick Franzo, president of the Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany, also said he was not surprised by DNR's approval of the permit.

"It's nothing we didn't expect," he said. "We expected a rubber stamp approval from DNR. We believe the stumbling  block for the (Helis) project will be with the Army Corps."

According to the permit, there will be no pits or earthen pits, either lined or unlined, at the site, which is just north of Interstate 12 about a mile east of Louisiana 1088. Steel tanks will be used in the closed-loop system.

Helis must restrict its acquisition of water for fracking purposes to surface water from private ponds that are not replenished by groundwater wells, the permit says. Acquisition of the water cannot begin until the sources are approved by the Office of Conservation.

The company must provide full disclosure of the chemicals it uses to frack the well.

Helis must monitor groundwater, air, storm water and noise and make any reports associated with the monitoring available to the Office of Conservation and the public.

And before drilling, Helis must provide a work plan that is satisfactory to the Office of Conservation for each of the monitoring programs, the permit says.

The drilling permit gives Helis approval to drill an exploratory vertical well 13,374 feet deep. The company has said it would then take several months to study data from the well.

If the information is promising, the company said it would then seek to drill horizontally and use the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, method to crack the shale and release oil so it can be extracted. However, Helis would need to amend its drilling permit and obtain state approval to begin that portion of the operation.

Last month's public hearing on Helis' permit application drew a large crowd of citizens, most of whom opposed the project. The hearing, which gave everyone an opportunity to comment, lasted nearly eight hours, going well past midnight.

Testimony was taken from consultants for Helis, and attorneys for the town of Abita Springs and Concerned Citizens cross-examined the consultants and called one witness of their own.

Many citizens and some parish officials say the public health and pollution risks associated with fracking are not worth whatever benefits may be derived. They cite problems elsewhere in the country and say the parish should not gamble with its soil, water, air and quality of life.

Helis says the drilling can be done safely and that it would safeguard the parish's environment. While opponents have been the most outspoken, many citizens and a number of business groups support Helis' plans.

St. Tammany Parish and Abita Springs have filed lawsuits in an effort to block the project. The lawsuits are pending.

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I would doubt that this well will be drilled in the near future.

Helis and DNR seem willing to jump through all the hoops.  That's likely the best course to address the public concerns. 

All the hoop jumping just ads $$$$ to the cost. With oil at $100 it was probably worth fighting but at sub $60 ???

I think the value of putting up with the extra hassle and the extra expense is in impacting public perception in regard to fracking.  In areas where many wells have been drilled, completed and are producing you hear practically nothing about fracking because it has proved to be of no environmental consequence.  The anti-fracking crowd are soon ignored by the average citizen/land owner when all the dire predictions are shown to be nothing but hot air.  The industry has been piss poor at public relations for too long.  They should invest in better PR and oppose this kind of bs wherever it crops up.  To do otherwise simply allows the insanity to spread.

Now having said that.......I agree that municipalities should be able to create regulations regarding surface operations to protect public safety and the right of citizens to the "quiet enjoyment" of their homes.  I don't have a problem with greater set backs in more densely populated areas.  I think sound walls and prohibited hours for service traffic can be reasonable.  And I think that energy companies should be willing to work within those frameworks and, my pet peeve, help repair the roads they tear up.

Corps rejects request for new public hearing on Helis’ plans

Drilling company provides requested info

BY Faimon A. Roberts III  froberts@theadvocate.com  Jan. 21, 2015

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dealt a setback to opponents of a proposed St. Tammany Parish oil well Wednesday when it denied a request for a public hearing on the oil company’s application for a wetlands permit.

Attorneys for the group Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany and the town of Abita Springs — both of which have sued in state court to stop the well from being drilled — originally requested a public hearing in the fall but received no response from the Corps.

In December, the Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency requested more inform... on the project than was provided in Helis Oil and Gas Co.’s October application for a permit to drill in federally protected wetlands. Helis responded Jan. 2 with 500 pages of documents.

The voluminous new information was cause for a new public hearing, attorneys Lisa Jordan and Mariane Cufone argued in a Jan. 14 renewed request for such a hearing. The pair also requested that the Corps reopen the public comment period on the permit application, which the Corps also denied.

“The Corps cannot allow Helis to subvert the public’s due process right to comment by withholding previously produced or accessible information until after the comment period has closed,” the attorneys said in their letter.

Helis needs a wetlands permit because a portion of the site of its proposed 3.21-acre drilling pad has been designated as wetlands. The proposed drilling pad is big enough for only a vertical test well, which Helis has proposed as the first phase in what could be a two-phase process.

After the vertical well is drilled, the company plans to test samples collected from approximately 13,000 feet underground to see if the rock formation there could be a viable commercial source of crude oil.

If the test results are positive, the company will have to reapply to the Corps and the Louisiana commissioner of conservation for wetlands and drilling permits, respectively, to build a bigger drilling pad so that a horizontal shaft can be drilled and the well hydraulically fractured, or fracked.

In the Corps’ letter denying the request for a public hearing, Regulatory Branch Chief Martin Mayer said that if Helis “submits an application to install fracking production wells (based on information obtained from this exploratory well),” the Corps will publish a 30-day public notice “and you will have an opportunity to submit a public hearing request at that time.”

Helis has said the proposed drilling site — about a mile south of Lakeshore High School, northeast of Mandeville — sits atop a unique rock formation within the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, a rock formation more than two miles deep.

Fracking wells are being drilled in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale in Washington, Tangipahoa and St. Helena parishes, as well as the Feliciana parishes and southern Mississippi. Some have estimated that the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale may contain as much as seven billion barrels of oil. But because the formation it is looking at is unique to southern St. Tammany Parish, Helis has said it would be impossible for its well to be drilled in another area.

Although opponents have vehemently protested Helis’ plans to drill the exploratory well, it’s the possibility of fracking that has them most worried. Fracking, a process where water, sand and other chemicals are injected into rock to create tiny cracks through which oil and gas can be extracted, has been blamed for a litany of environmental problems, and some communities around the country have tried to ban it, with varying degrees of success.

In normally oil-industry-friendly St. Tammany, as soon as Helis’ plans became known, a strong opposition formed and has fought Helis every step of the way, including persuading state Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh to hold an unprecedented public hearing to discuss Helis’ request for a drilling permit before that permit was awarded in mid-December.

The only other permit needed by Helis is the Corps’ wetlands permit, but the company is faced with lawsuits filed in state court in both Baton Rouge and Covington to prevent the well from being drilled.

 

Fracking fight - Abita Springs sues the Corps of Engineers for denying public hearing

By Robert Rhoden, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune  February 13, 2015 at 4:02 PM

The town of Abita Springs has filed a lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers over the agency's refusal to hold a public hearing on Helis Oil & Gas Co.'s application for a wetlands permit for its proposed drilling and fracking project near Mandeville. The suit, filed Thursday (Feb. 12), says the corps acted improperly when it denied the town's request for the hearing and refused to reopen the public comment period on Helis' application after the company submitted more than 500 pages of material following the close of the period.

The suit was filed in federal court in New Orleans, naming as defendants the corps and various officials, including Secretary of the Army John McHugh and Martin Mayer, chief of the regulatory branch for the corps' New Orleans district.

According to the suit, the corps acted illegally in denying the hearing because issues raised by Helis' application are substantial, there is a valid interest to be served by a public hearing, and the agency failed to make legally-required findings before denying Abita Springs' request, according to the suit.

In its refusal to reopen the comment period, the agency failed to ensure the availability of critical information necessary for the public to make meaningful comments on the wetlands permit application, the suit says.

It asks the court to declare the corps' actions illegal and force the agency to hold a public hearing and re-open the comment period.

A corps spokesman said Friday the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The suit was filed by Lisa Jordan of the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic and Jay Friedman, a student practitioner with the clinic. The law clinic is also representing Abita Springs in a lawsuit against the state that seeks to block Helis' controversial drilling proposal northeast of Mandeville.

Jordan and attorney Marianne Cufone, who represents Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany, had argued that Helis' Jan. 2 submission of more than 500 pages of documentation to the corps warrants the reopening of the comment period and increases the need for a public hearing. The documentation included information that was not available to citizens before the public comment period closed in November, they said.

But the corps notified Jordan on Jan. 21 that it would not hold a public hearing.

The agency "has determined that a PH (public hearing) is not necessary for this project as currently proposed," Mayer wrote. "The final decision on the permit application will be made based on whether or not it would be contrary to the public interest to issue the permit."

Mayer's letter did not address the request to reopen the comment period, but a corps spokesman told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune last month the agency had no plans to do so.

Helis is seeking a wetlands permit for its plan to drill a vertical well just north of Interstate 12 on the east side of Louisiana 1088. The project would impact 2.81 acres of wetlands at the proposed well pad site plus another .32 acres of wetlands nearby.

If the well data is encouraging, the company said it would then seek approvals to drill horizontally and use the controversial hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process to release oil from a shale formation.

Many citizens and some elected officials in St. Tammany oppose the project because of concerns about pollution, traffic, lower property values and the industrialization of the parish.

The state Office of Conservation, which held a public hearing in November, has given Helis a drilling permit.

Abita Springs' lawsuit against the state came after a similar suit filed by St. Tammany Parish government. The Concerned Citizens group is an intervenor in the parish's lawsuit.

Fracking project gets water quality certification from DEQ

By Robert Rhoden, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune

on March 19, 2015 at 6:31 PM, updated March 19, 2015 at 8:27 PM

A proposed oil drilling and fracking project in St. Tammany Parish received a water quality certification from the state on Thursday (March 19), moving the controversial project a step forward. After reviewing Helis Oil & Gas Co.'s plans, the state Department of Environmental Quality ruled the project will not violate state water quality standards and is in accordance with Louisiana's Water Quality Management Plan and all applicable laws and regulations.

The project, which is being challenged in court, still needs a wetlands permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

In its decision, DEQ said it had denied several organizations' requests for a public hearing on Helis' application for the water quality certification. Those organizations included the Gulf Restoration Network.

"The evaluation concluded there are no significant water quality issues associated with the exploratory vertical well project as proposed," DEQ wrote.

A spokesman for Helis said Thursday the company was pleased with DEQ's decision.

"Helis has a strong commitment to protecting and preserving water quality in St. Tammany Parish," spokesman Greg Beuerman said. "We are pleased with the department's actions which allow us to keep making progress on this important energy initiative."

DEQ responded to a number of public comments about the proposed project, including concerns about possible water pollution and the sources of the 800,000 gallons Helis expects to use.

Helis will not use surface pits to store any production waste or drill cuttings of any kind, DEQ noted. A self-contained, closed loop mud system will be used, it said.

The company will use collected stormwater as much as possible, DEQ said, with the rest of the needed water being brought in by truck from private ponds located within 3 to 5 miles of the drill site northeast of Mandeville.

Helis wants to drill a vertical well on undeveloped land just north of Interstate 12 and east of Louisiana 1088. If the data from the well is promising, the company said it would then seek approvals to drill horizontally and use the controversial hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process to release oil from a shale formation.

Helis already has a drilling permit from the state Office of Conservation.

Many citizens and some public officials oppose the project due to concerns that include pollution, lower property values and the industrialization of the parish.

St. Tammany Parish government and the town of Abita Springs have filed lawsuits in state district court in Baton Rouge in hopes of blocking the drilling. The citizens group Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany is an intervenor in the parish's lawsuit.

Abita Springs' fracking lawsuit is dismissed by a state judge in Covington

By Robert Rhoden, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on April 17, 2015 at 10:52 AM, updated April 17, 2015 at 1:02 PM

A state judge in Covington has dismissed the town of Abita Springs' lawsuit aimed at blocking a controversial proposed oil drilling and fracking project about 4 miles outside the town. Judge William Knight, siding with Helis Oil & Gas Co. and the state Office of Conservation, ruled that Abita Springs doesn't have the right to enforce St. Tammany Parish zoning codes.

"The town of Abita Springs has no right to bring the action sought," Knight wrote in his ruling, dated Wednesday (April 15).

Abita Springs filed the lawsuit against Helis and the state in Dece..., maintaining Helis' project would violate parish government's zoning codes and be harmful to the health, safety and welfare of St. Tammany's citizens.

"The question before this court is not whether fracking is or is not a good process," Knight wrote. "The court further is not the appropriate forum in which the decision of whether or not this particular drilling permit should be issued.

"Rather, this court is presented with the narrow issue of whether or not Abita Springs has the legal right to enforce the Unified Development Code which was adopted by St. Tammany Parish."

Helis Oil and the Office of Conservation had also argued that Abita Springs' lawsuit should have been filed in Baton Rouge and that it duplicates St. Tammany Parish government's lawsuit, which is pending in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge. Those arguments are moot because of his ruling that the town has no right to bring the suit, Judge Knight wrote.

Helis spokesman Greg Beuerman said Friday (April 17) the company was pleased with the dismissal of the lawsuit. "We now look forward to Monday's hearing in the 19th Judicial District which we hope will allow us to move this important energy project one step closer to becoming a reality."

Lisa Jordon, an attorney representing Abita Springs, said she had no problem with the dismissal of claims against the Office of Conservation, saying the town had offered to do just that. "With respect to the dismissal of Abita Springs' claims against Helis Oil, we are disappointed with the court's ruling and will consider our options."

Helis Oil wants to drill a vertical well on undeveloped land just north of Interstate 12 and east of Louisiana 1088, northeast of Mandeville. If the well data is promising, the company would seek state and federal approvals to drill horizontally and use the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process to crack a shale formation and release oil for extraction.

The company has a state drilling permit but needs a wetlands permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

The drilling proposal, which surfaced last spring, has been controversial, with many citizens and some public officials opposing it on environmental grounds.

In his ruling, Judge Knight made note of the intense debate surrounding the proposal, writing, "To say that the project has aroused significant emotion and controversy is to mildly understate the situation."

The parish government's lawsuit against the state Department of Natural Resources and its Office of Conservation is scheduled to be heard Monday in Baton Rouge before state Judge William Morvant.

 

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/04/abita_springs_fracking_...

Judge wants details on permit approval

Faimon A. Roberts III| froberts@theadvocate.com

Aug. 11, 2015

For the second time in less than a month, a state district judge has thrown a roadblock in the way of Helis Oil & Gas Co.’s proposed St. Tammany well.

The project is controversial because it would use fracking to release oil trapped in underground rocks.

Baton Rouge Judge Timothy Kelley — at least the third state judge to hold a hearing concerning the well — on Monday ordered state Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh to release more information about the deliberations his office went through before approving the company’s drilling permit.

The ruling effectively renders the permit moot in the meantime.

Kelley, a 19th Judicial District Court judge, said he was not ordering Welsh to reopen public comment or hold another hearing on the permit, but he said Welsh needs to show that he considered at least three issues: whether a fault line may lie near the fracking site, whether that site is the best spot to drill and whether a cost-benefit analysis was performed.

Attorneys for Abita Springs had asked the court to review the process by which Welsh issued the drilling permit in December.

The town’s attorney, Lisa Jordan, argued that Welsh has a constitutional duty to protect the people of Louisiana from the possible adverse consequences of oil and gas drilling. That duty could include performing analyses that are above and beyond those required by department regulations, she said.

“This is a close call,” Kelley said before sending the permit back to Welsh. “I have to reverse and remand this matter.”

Kelley rejected arguments from Daniel Henry, who represented the Department of Natural Resources, and Matt Jones, representing Helis. They contended that Welsh did everything he was required by law to do, the same things that were done for the 1,500 other permits issued last year. They said Welsh considered expert testimony — much of it presented by attorneys for Helis — that addressed site location and impact analyses.

Further, the pair argued, the list of extra measures that the drilling permit requires Helis to take — including forcing the company to use what is called a “closed-loop” system to prevent contaminants from being released into the environment and a prohibition on waste pits — was evidence of Welsh’s careful consideration of the application.

Kelley didn’t buy it.

“I don’t see where he addressed certain issues,” he said. “They are not addressed in the record.”

The handful of well opponents who had gathered to hear the arguments were jubilant at the ruling, with several offering a “Thanks, judge,” as Kelley left the bench.

Abita Springs Mayor Greg Lemons said Kelley’s ruling will allow Lemons to “protect the people of Abita Springs.”

Jordan said the ruling “represents a statement to the DNR that oil and gas drilling does not trump citizens’ rights.”

Daniel Henry, who represented Welsh, said he would confer with Welsh about whether to appeal the ruling or agree to reconsider the permit.

Kelley’s decision was just another speed bump thrown up by fracking opponents, Helis spokesman Greg Beuerman said. “Our opponents’ strategy is just to delay, delay, delay,” he said.

The company’s project is on hold anyway after the parish issued a stop-work order last month. That order came after another 19th Judicial District Court judge, William Morvant, granted a parish request for a “suspensive” appeal. Such an appeal sets aside the effects of Morvant’s earlier ruling, which prohibited the parish from using its zoning ordinance to prevent Helis from drilling the well.

Before the parish stopped the work, Helis had begun construction on the approximately three-acre drilling pad about a mile south of Lakeshore High School. Even after issuing the order, the parish allowed Helis to complete work on about two dozen water wells at the site, as well as air monitoring equipment. That work was completed and inspected by parish officials Friday, a parish spokesman confirmed.

Follow Faimon A. Roberts III on Twitter, @faimon.

 

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