>>Let's talk about baseline water sampling rules. For instance in Pennsylvania they passed
something called Act 13. What this act does it's a presumption of liability on the part
of the oil and gas operator for any well within 2500 feet. There's no requirement in the state
for pre-drill sampling, but if there's an impact to a well within that distance of an
oil and gas well, then it is assumed that the fault is that of the oil and gas operator.
So what this has caused is the oil and gas operators to undertake baseline water sampling
in Pennsylvania to protect themselves against claims. In Ohio, Senate Bill 314 was passed,
and this actually instructs industry to collect pre-drill samples within 300 feet of conventional
wells and 1500 feet for horizontal wells. In North Dakota they have rules requiring
the mineral developer to collect pre-drill sampling within 2640 feet or a half a mile
of oil and gas wells, and they must do this one year prior to drilling activities. In
New York, they have rules that are currently under development, and again they have issues
that address distance within 1000 to 2000 feet depending on water source. West Virginia,
again like Pennsylvania, has this presumption of liability for private wells. In this case,
it's within 1500 feet. So once again there's an incentive for the industry to do baseline
sampling in those in those cases. Individuals, private well owners in West Virginia are also
encouraged to do their own sampling. In Illinois, rules require oil and gas industry to sample
all water sources three times actually within 1500 feet and also post completion sampling
at 6, 18, and 30 months after wells have been hydraulically fractured.
In Wyoming, they require up to four available water sources within a half a mile of oil
and gas activity to be sampled prior to activities and again they have a post-sampling requirement.
Two samples required at different intervals, the first one from 12 to 24 months, the second
from 36 to 48 months after activities have been completed. And then there are other water
quality sampling rules and regulations in place for other states that are not as prescribed.
For instance in Louisiana, USGS has a state-wide program to assess water quality in areas of
active oil and gas activities. In North Carolina, likewise the USGS will be conducting baseline
groundwater quality sampling of public and private wells and compile well records in
areas of potential oil and gas activities. So it varies quite a bit actually from one
state to the next. But increasingly, states where there is increased oil and gas activities
and in particular hydraulic fracturing, states are putting in place rules and guidance for
doing this.
So you can see there's quite a variation from state to state. Another issue here is just
how many wells need to be sampled, and it varies again from state to state, and there's
a reason for this. It's because of the geographic variability than exists in the different states.
In some states like North Dakota where you have very sparse population, very large land
holdings, it's very different than in Pennsylvania where you have multiple people with homes
and ranches in a very small space. This is one of the reasons there's all these variations.
For instance, how many wells do you actually have to sample? Now again, in Pennsylvania
and in West Virginia there's this presumption of liability, and that really put the onus
on the industry to come up with their own programs to basically defend themselves against
claims. In other states, they actually not only prescribe the distance that a well has
to be sampled from an oil and gas well but how many wells should be sampled. Some of
the states require that all wells within that certain radius be sampled. Some states require
a specific number of wells within that radius be sampled. Some states require that you sample
wells before hydraulic fracturing begins and other operations. Some require pre-drill but
also post completion sampling, so samples are collected after operations cease to look
and be able to compare the pre-drilled baseline water quality sampling with post completion
activities at that particular location. Sometimes they require even more than one pre-drill
sample, and sometimes they require more than one post drill sample. So now what happens
to this data that's collected, and again it can be collected by the operators, the state,
private individuals. In Pennsylvania the operator provides the data to the state. There's no
requirement to provide it to the well owner. In Colorado and Ohio, the operator provides
it to domestic well owners as well as the state. In North Dakota, there's actually no
specific provisions. In New York, Illinois, Wyoming, operator provides the information
to the domestic well owner and the state. And again in West Virginia like Pennsylvania
the operator retains the data that they collect. Private well owners are also encouraged to
collect their own data.