Oil & Gas Environmental Working Group Quarterly Meeting October 2013

Our guest speaker is a noted Texas expert on this topic:

Dr. Jean-Philippe Nicot, Bureau of Economic Geology, UT Austin

Dr. Nicot led and authored a recent highly publicized University of Texas study, funded by the Texas Oil and Gas Association, addressing the fresh water challenges of hydraulic fracturing in Texas.

There are significant water supply challenges facing the fracking industry. The goals of this discussion will be to:

• highlight the water needs of hydraulic fracturing,
• describe the fresh water availability challenges facing the industry in arid regions such as the Eagle Ford Shale and the Permian Basin,
• discuss ways that companies are addressing this challenge, including projects to enhance natural water storage in aquifers, wetlands and streams, and tapping vast brackish water resources,
• summarize recent legal developments that will influence the ability of oil and gas firms to secure fresh water supplies, including recent water rights and ESA judicial decisions and recent legislation in Texas.

The second focal area of the meeting will be on creative mitigation and green infrastructure strategies. These are of growing importance for the oil and gas sector under three federal laws: The Endangered Species Act (ESA), the wetland provisions of the Clean Water Act and NEPA. Such strategies are also becoming the tool of choice for companies to resolve CERCLA/OPA liability for oil spills or other events alleged to have caused damage to natural resources. We will focus on ways that companies can use innovative mitigation strategies to secure timely project approvals and cost-effective liability resolution under these laws. The presentations will also discuss innovative uses of land and water conservation strategies, not as mitigation, but as “green infrastructure” for oil and gas firms, i.e.:

• to treat or beneficially use oil and gas wastes, such as produced and frac flow back water,
• to protect pipelines, other infrastructure and mineral rights from the damaging effects of riverine and coastal erosion, and
• to recharge aquifers in order to protect companies’ access to fresh water.