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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 2, 2015 at 12:49

Fracking fight: Attorneys argue in court over wetlands permit

By Robert Rhoden, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune  on December 02, 2015 at 3:24 PM, updated December 02, 2015 at 4:07 PM

The fight over fracking in St. Tammany Parish moved to federal court in New Orleans on Wednesday (Dec. 2), where a judge heard arguments over whether the Army Corps of Engineers legally awarded a wetlands permit for a proposed oil drilling project northeast of Mandeville. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier heard from attorneys for the Abita Springs, the corps and Helis Oil & Gas Co. for about 90 minutes before taking the case under study.

Abita Springs sued the corps in February, saying the agency failed to follow federal regulations when it issued the permit in June. The suit alleges that corps refused the town's request for a public hearing and a new public comment period to respond to about 500 pages of information that Helis submitted to the corps on Jan. 2 -- after the initial comment period closed. And Helis' application did not meet a requirement that the company study and consider other sites that don't include wetlands, attorneys for Abita Springs said.

"Without that analysis ... the permit cannot be legally issued," Rachael Ruiz, a student practitioner with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, told the judge. Ruiz and law clinic Deputy Director Lisa Jordan are representing Abita Springs, which is less than six miles from the proposed drill site off Louisiana 1088.

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys representing the corps said in a court filing that federal regulations did not require the corps to reopen public comment after it received additional information it had requested from Helis. The public notice about the wetlands permit application provided sufficient information to give the public a clear understanding about the project so citizens could provide meaningful comment, the brief said. "If the corps were required to reopen public comment each time it received responses from the applicant to previous public comments, 'the comment period could continue in a never ending circle,' " it said.

Justice Department attorney John Sullivan, who joined attorney Matthew Marinelli in representing the corps, said Helis certified it could not find local non-wetlands sites that would let it hit its targeted geologic formation. In a brief filed with the court, Sullivan said John Johnston III of the Louisiana Geological Survey concluded the proposed site was the least damaging alternative for the project.

At one point, Barbier said, "If they (Helis) had a non-wetlands site, it seems they would be happy to do that," noting the company could have avoided the regulatory hurdles and costs involved.

Jordan agreed that Helis did a good job of explaining why it chose the site. But it has not proven it considered non-wetlands locations as required by law, she said.

Helis wants to drill a horizontal test well into a specific geologic formation within the vast Tuscaloosa Marine Shale from an undeveloped location off Log Cabin Road, just north of Interstate 12. The site would require filling about 3 acres of wetlands. If its well data is promising, the company has said it would move forward to obtain state and corps approvals to drill horizontally and use the controversial hydraulic fracturing process to release oil from the shale formation. Many people in St. Tammany oppose the project due to environmental concerns. The parish government and a citizens group filed a lawsuit last year to block the project. The suit says St. Tammany's zoning regulations prohibit drilling at the site, which is zoned for residential use.

A state judge in Baton Rouge ruled against the parish in April. The parish appealed to the 1^st Circuit Court of Appeal, and the project is on hold pending the outcome of the appeal.

Barbier quizzed attorneys on the fracking controversy, which erupted in St. Tammany almost two years ago. He asked questions on numerous aspects of the case, including the Southern Hills acquifer, water monitoring wells, potential truck traffic, commercial viability of the proposed well and potential fracking of the well.

"I know there's a lot of interest and concern about this issue," he said. He did not say when he would issue a ruling. 

 

Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on June 28, 2016 at 1:36

The Rapad Drilling Rig #38 is scheduled to spud the Eads Poitevent Et Al #1 6/30/16.

http://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/sundown/cart_prod/cart_con_wellinfo2...

Controversial Northshore drilling site unveiled days before digging begins

Ashley Rodrigue, WWL 7:24 PM. CDT June 27, 2016

MANDEVILLE-  From the ground up, the drilling rig, sitting a mile from Highway 1088, reaches almost 180 feet into the air.

Helis Oil plans to extend that reach more than 13,000 feet below ground into the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale in search of black gold.  The vertical dig to discover if that oil exists begins Thursday.

"We got top guys," said Project Manager Mike Barham, "We also have multiple company men.  Two will be working in the daytime, two will be working at night. We also have two safety people; one will be working in the day, one at night."

Barham toured the media around the site Monday. In addition to explaining operations, and the materials and equipment used for them, he laid out the company's safety measures including air monitoring stations, water monitoring wells, and multiple layers of levees.

The next, and likely last group, to make a visit to this site will be the area's first responders to take part in an emergency drill.

"Give them a layout so they will know where the chemicals are, where the fuel is, where the people stay, so they'll have a level of comfort that when we do call them, they'll know where to go; how to attack a problem that we may be having," said Barham.

While Helis says its confident it has done everything possible to make this the safest operation possible, longtime critics, like Abita Springs Mayor Greg Lemons, aren't 100% sold.

"What I saw here looks like a very good plan to monitor things and that kind of stuff," he said, "I do still have some other questions. What about the water? It's not only about drilling, it's about the trucks coming through town. It's about the contractors."

Lemons is hoping to get those answers before the project goes from the drill exploration it is now to the full-on fracking operation Helis hopes it will become.

Knowing the future of the site won't begin to take shape until the rig is finished its work at the end of July.

St. Tammany Parish and the Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany have both requested the state Supreme Court reconsider its decision not to further hear their lawsuit, which argues the superior authority of local zoning laws.  The court has yet to respond.

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