Dear HCN, I read with some puzzlement your edition of
Sept. 25, in which you applaud the use of propane-powered buses in
Zion National Park, then promptly deride the natural gas industry,
the source of that propane. I’ve always respected the High
Country News for what I thought was balanced, in-depth
reporting on contentious environmental matters. My views have
changed based on the stories written.
I agree
that surface owners need to be knowledgeable, and I add that real
estate agents and developers need to disclose fully what the laws
are regarding split estate lands. Otherwise, your comments were
inflammatory and terribly inaccurate. There are bad actors in the
industry and there are many very contentious companies quietly
going about their business in a good way. The Wyoming Department of
Environmental Quality is being very careful about excess water
discharge into waterways, and is not arbitrarily issuing discharge
permits. Industry is as frustrated with the water-discharge matter
as landowners and the concerned citizens.
Undoubtedly, underground injection is an alternative in coalbed
methane areas. Did your investigative reporting uncover any
proactive water discharge solutions? There are many cases in
northeast Wyoming of win-win solutions between landowners and
coalbed methane gas producers. Did you not want to print those?
“How Well Do You Know Your Wells?” was not an
educational piece, it was the worst kind of journalism. Using
partial and sometimes inaccurate facts to try to imply that the
problems that you’ve stated are the norm is sad. Statistically
there are so many wells that aren’t creating problems. The
potential problems listed were such a small percentage and should
have been represented as such. There are no easy answers to the
colliding forces in Colorado and the Rockies, which include oil and
gas, mining, land development, and above all, population growth and
increasing national and world demand for inexpensive energy, food
and shelter. But inflammatory, poorly researched and imbalanced
reporting will not serve to find the solutions that are necessary
for the future.
David F.
Banko
Lone Tree, Colorado
The writer is a consultant to the natural gas industry.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Inflammatory reporting doesn’t help anybody.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
