WSP11424 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

; . ., ., . WATER QUALITY Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum Three public meetings were held to receive oral comments on the 2002 Review beginning in Rock Springs, WY on August \3'\ Montrose, CO, on August 14th; and in Price, UT on August 15th. Additional meetings were held in Fannington, NM, on September 4th; and Phoenix, AZ, on September 5, 2002. Attendance at Rock Springs, Montrose, and Phoenix were sparse, but in Price and Fannington it was well attended. All ofthe oral comments presented at the public meeting were supportive of the program. Ten formal comment letters were received by the published deadline. The Forum will be responding to each letter. With regard to the proposed NPDES policy, the Forum's Policy subcommittee, in response to two of the letters received concerning coal-bed methane groundwater discharges, will meet to review and revise the proposed policy, if necessary. Coal-Bed Methane Extraction For your information, on August 23, 2002, U.S. Federal Judge Sam Haddon ruled from the bench in Great Falls, Montana, that Fidelity Exploration and Production Company did not break the Federal Clean Water Act when it released coal-bed methane water into Montana's Tongue River and Squirrel Creek drainage. In his ruling, Judge Haddon stated, "...groundwater, like the kind brought to the surface in coal-bed methane drilling, isn't a pollutant as defined by federal law. The Northern Plains Resources Council, plaintiffs in the case, have indicated they will appeal Judge Haddon's decision. Any state, including the State of Montana, has the option to enact state laws governing methane water and those laws can be more strict than federal rules, just as the policy proposed by the Forum is more strict than federal law. -.........--- 12 "