States mull drilling rules as wells proliferate
In Silt, it was a seep from a gas well leaking benzene into a creek, and in Hobbs, N.M., it was a subdivision built on an old oil waste pit. In Gillette, Wyo., it was an oil-field high-voltage line buried just 6 inches underground, and in Miles City, Mont., it was the prospect of heavily salted well water coming down the Tongue River. Across the West, states are moving to add new regulations and laws as oil and gas drilling intensifies and potential problems — small and large — emerge. "Rule-making is going to go on for a while until there is a little more balance," said Joanna Prukop, head of the New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources.
In Silt, it was a seep from a gas well leaking benzene into a creek, and in Hobbs, N.M., it was a subdivision built on an old oil waste pit.
In Gillette, Wyo., it was an oil-field high-voltage line buried just 6 inches underground, and in Miles City, Mont., it was the prospect of heavily salted well water coming down the Tongue River.
Across the West, states are moving to add new regulations and laws as oil and gas drilling intensifies and potential problems — small and large — emerge.
"Rule-making is going to go on for a while until there is a little more balance," said Joanna Prukop, head of the New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources.
