Sponsored by the City of Trinidad and ReGroup

Friday, April 23, 8 a.m.–6 p.m.

Saturday, April 24, 8 a.m.–noon

Waste Connections

2600 Freedom Road

With the newer single-stream recycling, all items are collected in the same bin and thus can be stored in your home without separating. Empty and rinse all containers but do not flatten. Only cardboard boxes should be flattened. No need to remove container labels, paper clips, stamps, address labels, staples, tape, wire, metal fasteners, rubber bands, spiral bindings, plastic tabs. Envelopes are now accepted except for orange/brown envelopes (such as manila envelopes).

Items accepted

Paper

White or pastel office paper, file folders, egg cartons (no Styrofoam), paperboard boxes such as for cereal and crackers, paper bags, milk/juice cartons (no foil pouches), paperback books, phonebooks, magazines and catalogs, brochures, blueprints, newspapers and inserts (no bags), junk mail and greeting cards, corrugated cardboard and cardboard boxes (flatten).

Plastic

#1-7 plastic bottles and jars (no caps) and tubs. No microwave trays. No compostable cups; these are usually made from corn but look like plastic.

Glass

Bottles and jars, all colors.

Aluminum

Clean, balled aluminum foil (2” or larger) and pie pans. (Put your aluminum cans in the boxes around town to benefit Habitat for Humanity or take them to the rehab center to benefit its operations.)

Steel/tin cans Empty aerosol cans (no caps) Loose metal lids and steel bottle caps

NO plastics not listed; no plastic bags, bottle and jar caps, microwave trays, 6-pack holders, needles or syringes. NO shredded paper, paper ream wrappers, tissues, paper towels, napkins, waxed paper or waxed cardboard, hardback books, orange or brown envelopes, frozen food containers, paper to-go containers. NO mirrors, light bulbs, plates or vases, drinking glasses, window glass. NO hazardous or biohazardous waste. NO stickers or sheets of address labels. NO Styrofoam. NO ceramics or Pyrex.

Questions? Call ReGroup at 719-845-8218

Photo shows the 1" layer of Iridium dust from the asteroid. Photo was taken 10 miles west of Trinidad Colorado

Read the rest of the story here on ScienceBuzz.org

This summer you can visit over 100 US National Parks and Monuments free on three weekends starting on June 20th and 21st. Earlier this month Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made the announcement that the entrance fees will be waived on the weekends of June 20-21, July 18-19, and August 15-16.

This does include these treasured destinations like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Parks.

Get more information from the US Department of Interior’s website for the National Park Service. Also check out the National Geographic websites for the Grand Canyon and Yosemite and other National Parks to help plan your trip.

To make the fun even more affordable, many national park concessioners are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors on this summer’s fee free weekends with the their own specials and discounts.

Did you know that many of the nations National Parks never charge an entrance fee? So if you are looking for a place to go camping or hiking this summer this is a great place to start looking.

Charlie
Trinidadco.com

Note: Before you go you may need some supplies so check out OutdoorSportsCoupons.com to  see if you can find some coupons, coupon codes and discounts to make sure that you save all you can on any gear you might need for camping, hiking, cycling, climbing, etc.

Also you can see more of Jaquie on YouTube

We welcome your comments…. and be sure to be at this years Blues Fest because it is sure to be a special event.

Charlie
Trinidadco.com

Headlining this year’s Blues Fest is the Tommy Castro Band from San Jose, CA, Ronnie Baker Brooks of Chicago and the Tad Robinson of Chicago,featuring Alex Schultz.

The music in Central Park will begin at noon with performances by
Trinidad’s Jacquie Gipson, the Clique, also of Trinidad,

A photo from a previous Trinidaddio Blues Fest

Ken Saydak of La Veta (formerly Chicago, IL), Soul Kitchen featuring Hillary Smith, Chris Dracup & Tommy Elskes of Albuquerque, the venerable Los Albuquerque Blues Connection (ABC), and Dikki Du (AKA Troy Carrier) and the Zydeco Krewe of Opelousas, LA.

Ticket prices remain the same as last year: $20 general admission,
$40 VIP, $5 for kids 6-12, and children under 5 are free.

The ticket price to the Friday night Pre-Fest party at the Lucky Monkey has been reduced this year to $25, but does not include dinner (food vendors will be present).

More details on the Fest’s bands and sponsors will be released soon.

For more information, log on to www.trinidaddio.com or call 719-859-8031

Tickets:
NO PRICE INCREASE THIS YEAR: $20 FOR GENERAL ADMISSION AND
$40 FOR OUR LIMITED PREFERRED SEATING IN THE BIG TENTS
(TABLE AND CHAIR GUARANTEED!) IN THE SHADE, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE STAGE!

Neil Sexton, formerly of Trinidad and now residing in Utica, NY,
will again be the master of ceremonies for the event he originally founded in August of 1999 which has grown from an audience of several hundred to last year’s estimated attendance of 5000 to 6000.

“To the audience, the all-day Fest will seem unchanged from previous years,” says Jerry Campbell, “however, there will be some differences behind the scenes, mostly in ways that we think will improve the experience for both attendees and participants.”

Fred has practical personal experience and knowledge that comes from years of research and from the construction of his own home that is totally off-grid using nothing but Solar and Wind and passive energy saving techniques. Fred’s home is just west of Aguilar and is local to the Southern Colorado area for consulting but can also use your home plans to provide you a site analysis.

So whether you are just considering your alternative energy options or are ready to make a move to a more sustainable energy lifestyle be sure to check out his web page at MountainHomeConsulting.com or call Fred at 719-859-1992 for more information.  You will be glad you did!

Way to go Fred, we wish you the very best in success with your new Business!

Charlie

Trinidadco.com

Published at http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2009/2009-04-20-093.asp

DENVER, Colorado, April 20, 2009 (ENS) – The Colorado Supreme Court today ruled that coal bed methane producers must adhere to the same water rules and regulations as other state water users.

In 2005, two ranch families who own water rights in Archuleta and La Plata counties sued the State Engineer, arguing that he was acting illegally by failing to require BP America Production Company to get permits and water court approvals to pump tributary groundwater as part of the company’s coal bed methane production.

Judge Gregory Lyman, the water judge in Durango, agreed and the State Engineer and BP appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.

At issue in the appeal was whether the state District Court, Water Division erred in not deferring to the State Engineer’s determination that the removal of water from geologic formations solely to facilitate coalbed methane mining operations is not a “beneficial use” within the State Engineer’s Ground Water Act permitting authority.

Coal bed methane water being discharged (Photo by M. Scott)

For years, coal bed methane producers have been allowed to pump large amounts of groundwater connected to nearby streams, called tributary groundwater, as part of their extraction operations without a water right or approvals from the State Engineer and the water courts.

Coal bed methane is natural gas, 99 percent methane, that is generated and stored in coal seams. Water keeps the coal bed methane in place in underground formations. When groundwater is pumped, the gas is released from the formation and can be captured by producers.

Coal bed methane producers often re-inject most of the water underground, but in different, deeper formations, so the water is not available to other water users or the nearby streams as it was before the methane production.

A State Engineer permit and water court approval are usually required before tributary groundwater can be pumped. These approvals are designed to ensure that the water rights of others, including instream flow rights held by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, are not injured.

Coal bed methane producers have for years argued that they are not using the water but are simply “disposing” of it, therefore they are not subject to these requirements.

Today’s ruling in Vance v. Wolfe affirms Judge Lyman’s decision. The Colorado Supreme Court found that the extraction of tributary groundwater for coal bed methane production is a “beneficial use” of water that is subject to water rights administration and approvals by the water courts.

“This is a victory for both ranchers and our streams,” said Mely Whiting, an attorney with the conservation group Trout Unlimited, which participated in the appeal in support of the ranchers.

“The decision sends a strong message that just because you are part of the oil and gas industry, you are not above and beyond Colorado water laws,” she said.

Whiting gave credit for the ruling to the Vance and Fitzgerald families who brought the suit as well as to attorney Sarah Klahn of the Denver law firm of White & Jankowski, which specializes in natural resources law. “They did the lion’s share of work, and they deserve congratulations for this important achievement,” she said.

“The court made a sound ruling based on a common sense reading of Colorado law,” said Bart Miller, with Western Resource Advocates, which participated by filing a “friend of the court” brief on the appeal.

“The decision implicitly recognizes the scarcity and value of water in Colorado,” he said. “It’s an important decision.”

Phase 2 of Colorado’s Statewide Water Supply Initiative estimates that by 2050, Colorado may need an additional 1.7 million acre-feet of water. Without new water supplies, it is estimated that 77 percent of agriculture will be dried up.

“Produced water and disposal should not be in the same sentence,” says Pat O’Toole, a rancher in Savery, Wyoming, a state that is rich in coal bed methane. “Water is much too valuable a commodity. We need to embrace the reality that CBM development will produce water and that water can be cleaned at reasonable cost.”

Published in Enviromental News Service

Saturday March 7th 12-4pm
TSJC Cafeteria

FREE!
Donations Welcomed!

Trinidad Community Garden Meeting 12-2pm: find out what it is all about, plan the 2009 season, anyone interested in getting a plot for this season should attend, first come first serve basis(only a few more lots available!)

Successful Gardening Workshop 2-4pm: A comprehensive presentation on gardening techniques; getting an early start, raising your own starts, creating microclimates, high altitude tips, growing lots of food in small spaces, soil health, composting, and more! Presenters: Joni Steiner and Carter Morris from Earth Mtn. Education Farm

For more info: Contact Joni @ 719-680-0215 or email @ earthmountainfarm@yahoo.com

Here are some photos of the fire:

Our hope is that the building will be able to be rebuilt instead of torn down to help preserve more of our downtown buildings. There are some local comments on our Trinidadco.com forum here if you want to read them.

Unanimous panel rejects arguments by companies

By JENNIFER McKEE
Gazette State Bureau

HELENA – Critics of unregulated pumping of water from coalbed methane wells scored a pair of legal victories this week as two Montana courts handed down rulings.

On Monday, Helena District Judge Thomas Honzel ruled that water pumped to the surface to extract coalbed methane is, in fact, groundwater.

The decision deals with a 2001 Montana law that seems to treat water produced in coalbed methane extraction differently from any other water pumped from underground. Honzel ruled that methane-related water is no different from other groundwater.

On Wednesday, the Montana Supreme Court held that the state’s Department of Environmental Quality and Board of Environmental Review, an appointed panel that sets environmental rules and resolves certain disputes, has the authority to regulate two components of methane-related water that farmers say fouls irrigation water.

Coalbed methane is natural gas found in coal seams in a wide swath of southeastern Montana and northern Wyoming. To extract the gas, drillers pump out the water that is holding it in the coal seams under pressure.

In Montana, this water has been the source of years of debate and legal wrangling centered on two themes: the quality of the water and the enormous amounts of it.

Montana’s richest methane country sits near the Tongue and Powder rivers of southeast Montana. Farmers in the region use the two rivers as irrigation water. Some of the farmland also contains clay soils.

Methane companies initially proposed pumping the methane water into the two rivers. But some of the methane water is especially salty, and local farmers complained that irrigating with salty water, especially with clay soils that can act as a kind of barrier, trapping the salty water near the surface, would harm their crops.

In 2003, the Montana Board of Environmental Review set numerical standards for two measurements of salt in waters of the region that limited the amount of salts.

That prompted six years of lawsuits. Energy companies, including Pennaco Energy, owned by Marathon Oil, argued that the state doesn’t have the authority to regulate methane water.

A Big Horn County judge rejected the energy companies’ claims, and the case was appealed to the state’s highest court.

A unanimous, five-justice panel again rejected arguments by the energy companies Wednesday, ruling that Montana’s limits on salts were properly decided and the board that created them had the right do so.

Beth Kaeding, chairwoman of the Northern Plains Resource Council, an agriculture and conservation group based in Billings that was involved in both cases, said the ruling seems to be the end of the lengthy debate.

“This is a true victory for Montana’s rivers and streams,” the Bozeman woman said.

A spokesman for Marathon did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

The second ruling deals with water quantity. While methane-related water may be salty in some areas, it also underlies a part of Montana where water can be scarce.

In 2001, the Montana Legislature passed a law that stipulated that methane-related water be treated differently from other kinds of groundwater. In 2004, the Fidelity Exploration and Production Co., a methane developer operating in Montana, applied for a state permit to give more than 3,800 acre-feet of methane-related water to ranchers and coal mining companies.

An acre-foot of water, a standard measurement, is the amount of water it would take to cover one acre of land with one foot of water.

Local water users appealed to the state, arguing that such an enormous amount of displaced groundwater might dewater their aquifers. These users countered that they have more senior water rights and, therefore, had a right to appeal Fidelity’s water use, which, they said, amounted to a junior water right.

However, the 2001 law treated methane water differently from other groundwater, with which senior users are allowed to appeal water uses by more junior users.

In this case, the water users lost their appeal on the grounds that Fidelity’s methane water was not groundwater.

Honzel’s decision, while not negating the 2001 law, affirms that methane-related water is no different from any other groundwater.

“The source of the water is still the ground,” he wrote.

Kaeding said the ruling was important because it means senior water rights holders can protest the displacement of water by methane companies.

“If the (coal bed methane) companies got their way, they were going to be able to dewater so many of these aquifers that ranchers in southeastern Montana depend upon and there would be no recourse for them,” she said.

Tim Rasmussen, a Fidelity spokesman, said the company was still digesting the ruling Wednesday. He said it could throw into doubt the 3,800 acre-feet of water the company now gives to ranchers for stock water and to coal mines for cleaning their equipment, keeping down dust and to use for employee showers.

“They’ve grown accustomed to having this water available to them,” he said.

Rasmussen said “it’s too early” to say if the company would appeal Honzel’s ruling.

Northern Plains was involved in both cases, but Kaeding said the group has no quarrel with coalbed methane development.

“We simply want them to do it right,” she said. “We can coexist.”

Published on Thursday, December 18, 2008.
Read this article in the Billings Gazette

Note from this website: Finally a State takes the stand to do the right thing and recognize that the water removed during the extraction of Coalbed-methane is ground water and in fact not just a waste by product of their industry. Now if other States including Colorado would just wake up.

Look at the photos of Pinon Canyon

and enjoy some of the beautiful scenery found in Southern Colorado.

If you are interested in reading more about the Army Expansion Project into Pinon Canyon here are some articles recently posted that you might enjoy reading

Army Document Reveals Plan to Seize 7 Million Acres

Army gathers Comments on Expansion Report

Post your comments about the Pinon Canyon Expansion.

Here are some excerts from that article.

In recent years, the area west of Trinidad has become the focus of extensive drilling for the production of coal-bed methane.  Water from the coal-bed methane production is returned to the subsurface in disposal wells, and local citizens and officials in the Trinidad area expressed concern that the earthquakes might be somehow related to this fluid disposal.  Previous cases of subsurface fluid disposal causing earthquakes have been reported elsewhere in Colorado.

Other circumstances also contributed to USGS’s decision to respond to the Trinidad earthquake swarm.  Currently coal-bed methane gas is under production west of Trinidad.  The process of coal-bed methane gas extraction involves the removal of large amounts of water from the shallow coal beds and, due to environmental regulations, the excess water is returned to deeper underground layers.  Thus, data from a local seismograph network might be able to shed some light on whether a relationship between the earthquake activity and the fluid disposal operation existed.

The process of coal-bed methane gas extraction results in the production of large amounts of excess water.  The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission’s (COGCC) rules and regulations require that some of the excess water be returned to the subsurface in disposal wells, and 10 fluid disposal wells are presently operating in the earthquake-monitored area (Figure 9).  The first fluid disposal well began operating in mid-1988 and the latest well began September 4, 2001.  All wells are disposing of the water at various flow rates at depths of 1.5 – 2.1 km (4,000 – 7,000 ft).

Just recently between September and October 2008 there were some small earthquakes between 2.7 and 3.2 that were centered near the base of the East Spanish Peak at the top of Trujillo Creek that were felt in the area near Aguilar and the last one interesting enough was centered on the other side of the Sangre de Cristo Range north and West of San Luis.

Are these earthquakes just a natural occurance? or are they being initiated by the Oil and Gas Activity? What do you think?

Fishing hot spot: Trinidad Reservoir

* Why here? The reservoir offers potentially good fishing for a mix of warm- and cold-water fish species, including walleyes, trout, bass, perch and catfish amid uncrowded state-park amenities.

* What’s hot? Fishing has been excellent for walleyes and perch.

* Tackle box: For walleyes, jigs, crankbaits and worm harnesses; for perch, jigs and worms; for trout, typical baits and lures; for bass, spinnerbaits and soft-plastic lures; for catfish, night crawlers and prepared baits.

* Best times: Mornings and late afternoons.

* How to get there: From Denver, head south on Interstate 25 to Trinidad. Turn west on Colorado 12 and proceed 31/2 miles to the state-park entrance.

* Ask the experts: Lake Trinidad State Park, 1-719-846-6951.

* Fishing report: For the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s complete fishing report, visit RockyMountain News.com/fishing-report.

* Fish tales: Show off photos of fish you’ve caught. Go to Rocky MountainNews.com/your-space/ and click on “Landing the Big One.”

Read More>>>

Also check out their web page at Trinidad Lake State Park

Who owns coalbed methane?

Landowners staking claim in coalbed methane production

Monday August 18, 2008

The resource is there for the taking. A previously untapped pool at times contentious and, of late, an alternative to add to Alberta’s energy powerhouse.

But who owns it? The people of Alberta through the auspices of the provincial government, or landowners who hold title to the very soil this pool rests on?

In the last year, a small group of rural landowners is gaining momentum and strength in an unprecedented bid to stake their claim to the province’s burgeoning coalbed methane resource.

The United Landowners of Alberta have stepped forward alleging the provincial government who has title to all mines and minerals has no claim when it come to coalbed methane since the group contends the gas is biogenic in origin and must be treated no differently than wind or solar power.

In a nutshell, the Alberta government isn’t the rightful owner. Landowners are.

ULA spokesman Don Bester said scientific evidence is building on the origins of Alberta’s coal bed methane, a type of natural gas found in underground coal seams.

Bester said recent studies indicate much of the methane is renewable and is constantly created by bacteria in a biogenic process. Basically, the ULA contends as a “real time” renewable resource, the government’s claim on coalbed methane is moot.

The group has even re-dubbed coalbed methane as RBG or Renewable Biogenic Gas since they conclude the organisms that create the gas, anaerobic bacteria, can be “fed.”

“Anaerobic bacteria can survive without oxygen and uses carbon dioxide or water as a catalyst to their production. The byproduct of their production is renewable biogenic gas.”

Quite the claim since the government forwards the argument regardless of how a gas is created, it’s a gas and, thus, belongs to all Albertans.

Thermogenic gas can be created two ways. One is when it is formed at deeper depths by thermal cracking of sedimentary organic matter into hydrocarbon liquids and gas (this gas is co-genetic with oil, and is called “primary” thermogenic gas), and the second is thermal cracking of oil at high temperatures into gas “secondary” thermogenic gas and pyrobitumen.

“Let’s make one very clear point here,” said Alberta Energy spokesman Sean Beardow. “Coalbed methane is a natural gas and therefore it is owned by Albertans. How it is created, whether it’s thermogenic or biogenic subsurface natural gas. Whichever takes hundreds of thousands of years to produce thus calling it s renewable resource like wind or solar is a bit of a misnomer.”

And therein lies the rub.

If the ULA’s “scientific” claims are correct that biogenic gas can be created in real time then the province’s own push to create carbon capture and storage could be the emergence of a truly renewable resource since the CO2 is needed to feed the anaerobic bacteria. Now if all that is true, then the legal issue comes into play as to who owns it.

Bester contends although the government can lay claim to all rights for mines and minerals, a gas created in real time could disrupt that claim arguing the Farmer’s Advocate position “that we landowners of title hold to the heaven and hell theory.”

Thus, a court action like no other.

“We’ve done our homework. Done our research and even government research is now supporting our position, but the government has no comment,” said Bester.

Bester likened this revelation to a landowner who wishes to produce methane gas through a hog or dairy operation. Does it matter then if the gas, according to the ULA’s position as a real time organic byproduct, is produced above ground or below?

The argument also transcends to whether or not a landowner’s property can be accessed to tap said resource.

Companies are currently required to negotiate access agreements with landowners in order to tap a natural gas source. Even if the landowner doesn’t agree, a company can still proceed to drill because the Crown owns the resource and provincial board determines how much compensation a landowner should receive.
What the ULA alleges flies in the face of convention since most industry players are likely to take the position that methane is a mineral.

A 2006 study completed by the Alberta Geological Survey and U of A alludes although most of Alberta’s methane production has centred on the Alberta Horseshoe Canyon and is thermogenic gas that methane in the Ardley coal zone could have a biogenic source.

Therefore by very strict definition, as interpreted by the ULA, RBG cannot be a mineral.

The ULA will also be challenging the Energy Resources Conservation Board’s right to issue drilling licences to oil and gas companies who do not have the landowner’s approval to develop RBG that is under the Landowner’s subsurface ownership.

The Alberta Surface Rights Board will be included in the action as the ULA further states the Board has no right to grant Right of Entry Orders which is giving oil and gas companies the right to subsurface trespass and the right to directional drill under an adjacent Landowner’s subsurface.

Bester said the Landowner’s ownership of RBG will have far reaching implications in the future as many previously developed CBM projects will come into play as Petroleum and Natural Gas rights that the Industry has acquired through the Crown have potentially been obtained illegally.

Bester is encouraging all Landowners are encouraged to attend and join the organization in order to gain further information and assistance in their rightful claim of ownership of RBG. Information regarding upcoming meetings will be posted in the near future on the Alberta Surface Rights website albertasurfacerights.ca and numerous media outlets.

The first information meeting is to be held in Taber at the Heritage Inn Aug. 6.

Read the Story >>>>

Democratic and Republican voters of Las Animas County will head to the pools Tuesday to make their choices in the primary election, though there is only one position up for grabs.

Most of the available candidate positions within both parties were already decided during the caucuses and county meetings held by the parties earlier in the year. A caucus is a meeting of members of a political party, most commonly used to choose the party’s policy, actions or to nominate candidates for various offices.

Hope they don’t get too wet while voting…..hello Jay Leno…

Read More >>>>

So we went down to Trinidad today to attend the meetings between Assistant Secretary of the Army Eastin, Major General Graham, and the Las Animas County Commissioners, and another between Eastin, Graham, and the local public.

After that, we stopped in at Black jack’s Saloon for lunch.

Seeing as how Trinidad and Las Animas County are in the middle of the primest cow-growin’ country in Colorado, we opted for a couple of middle-sized steaks. Normally we don’t eat much beef, especially since it has gotten so expensive. In fact, we don’t know many people who can afford to eat beef, especially steak, on a regular basis. So we decided to splurge.

We were not disappointed. The steaks were outstanding. They were grilled to perfection. The waitstaff was on the ball and friendly. The ambience was top notch. The place was happily noisy with satisfied customers. Yep, we’d go back there in a New York minute.

Moved by recent comments about how we owe farmers and ranchers who put food on our tables, I decided to ask the waitress where Black Jack’s gets their beef. She didn’t know. So I asked a fellow back by the grill. I expected to hear they get their custom cuts from a local rancher, or a local packing plant. You know. Genuine grass-fed, free-range beef. Or perhaps hand-rubbed Black Angus steers, massaged daily with New Belgium ales by a bevy of vestal virgins and fed a select mash of corn and more of that New Belgium ale.

Nope.

Black Jack’s gets their beef from Sysco. Imagine our surprise when we found that Sysco gets most of its beef from Buckhead Beef, which is an east coast company. They get their Kobe beef from Snake River Farms up in Idaho. Well. Imagine our surprise to find that Las Animas County’s premier steakhouse uses beef that only by the most coincidental of events might actually come from Las Animas County.

We were…surprised.

Great place, though, even if they don’t shop local.

Residents of this community 30 miles west of Trinidad complain that drinking-water wells have become contaminated by methane wells, and that streams have become filled with silt and dried up – leaving a barren moon-like landscape.

A number of ranches and lots are listed for sale by residents who came to this area to get away from the noise and to get closer to nature.

“I don’t feel safe drinking the water from my well,” said Gopa Ross, 57, who has lived on the ranch since 2004. “From my observation, the water quality is not consistent – it changes.”

Ross said his well was tested and the water found unfit for drinking two years ago after a drilling incident polluted it.

But suppositions and impressions, not hard facts, are the basis of these allegations, said Jay Still, executive vice president of Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources Co., which owns methane wells on the ranch.

“It is very easy to make a statement that streams are drying, erosion or stream siltification is happening, and then it becomes a statement of fact,” Still said. “But where’s the science that backs that up? ”

Prolific methane reserve

The North Fork Ranch sits about 4,500 feet high on top of the Raton Basin – among the most prolific coal-bed methane reserves in the Rockies.

The seams filled with natural gas often are saturated with water, with gas held in the coal by water pressure. Bringing gas to the surface often results in the pumping of water, in some cases, tainted water. Today, the basin has about 2,000 wells – accounting for half the state’s coal-bed methane wells.

Since drilling on the ranch began in 2005, residents say they have noticed changes in their water. Not just the quality but also the quantity.

“We are seeing the effects on our surface water, and I just worry that next it will be our groundwater,” said longtime resident Marcia Dasko. “Without water, nothing else counts. We can’t live without it.”

A preliminary study sponsored by the state oil and gas commission in November 2007 said drilling is depleting the streams in the area by 2,500 acre-feet per year.

But a competing study, paid for by the industry but conducted under the supervision of the Colorado School of Mines, found that the depletion rate is 30 acre-feet per year.

Another industry-sponsored study concluded that silt in the streams is lower now than 10 years ago, partly because energy companies build and maintain the roads better.

“If we have real data to work with, we are better off to solve problems,” Still said.

County powerless

Las Animas County officials say they have no authority over water – it’s a state matter.

“Clearly we are concerned,” said Bill Cordova, county administrator. “People should have adequate water supply, but we don’t have control to do anything about that.”

However, the county opposes the state oil and gas commission’s efforts to toughen rules on coal-bed methane water, leading many residents to believe the county is sympathetic with the industry.

Tracy Dahl, president of the North Fork Ranch Landowners Association, traveled to Denver on July 15 for a hearing on the proposed rules before the commission.

“I am speaking on behalf of the North Fork Ranch, where I live, as well as for the thousands of people living in rural Las Animas County whose concerns and problems have not been represented by their local elected officials,” Dahl testified. “I live in the heart of the Raton Basin, and have been living with coal-bed methane development for several years now.

“Despite industry assurances to the contrary, numerous problems exist, and unless there is meaningful reform, it is likely to get far worse.”

State commissioners will begin deliberating the proposed rules Aug. 12, and a final decision is expected later this month.

“We do have new rules addressing coal-bed methane drilling,” said Dave Neslin, the commission’s acting director.

A loud boom

Gopa Ross remembers the evening of July 18, 2006.

She heard a loud boom at about 9:30 p.m. – loud enough to get all the neighbors calling each other. Then another boom at about 11 p.m. woke her up.

The source was a drilling accident at a nearby rig belonging to Pioneer Natural Resources. The drill bit had gotten stuck, so crew members applied pressure to release it. Pioneer said it is not clear whether that mechanical event caused problems in water wells.

Ross said she noticed the next day that her well water had swelled almost to the top. And it reeked.

She called Pioneer, the state oil and gas commission and local officials. Samples taken from her well tested for high levels of metal, making it unfit to drink, she said.

Pioneer bought her bottled water, offered to put her up in a hotel and tried to negotiate a settlement.

Unlike her neighbors, the Doloras family, which had settled with Pioneer after its water well blew up, Ross held out. Pioneer said it offered to dig a water well for Ross, but that well turned out to be dry.

“We could not come to an understanding,” Ross said.

The state oil and gas commission initiated enforcement action against Pioneer, Neslin said. Currently, the commission is seeking to reach an appropriate penalty. If imposed, the penalty money would go to the state.

Ross said the incident changed her life.

Construction of her house stalled as company and government officials came in and out of her property to inspect the well. Her brother, who was helping with construction, died, and the house never got built.

She now lives in her barn.

Just as well, since she can’t board horses anymore. She said the three horses she had wouldn’t drink the well water.

“I know the drilling incident was not on purpose – it was just a problem,” Ross said. “But I am the one that has to deal with it. That one night destroyed my dream.”

Last week, Ross sued Pioneer and some contractors. She wants a jury to decide an appropriate compensation.

“We provided Ms. Ross with fresh water for over a year, we tried to negotiate a solution, offered to put purification equipment on her well and re-drill a water well at a better location,” Still said.

“Earlier this year, we quit supplying her fresh water when we saw the negotiations were going nowhere. If she wants to take us to court, we will be ready with our facts to stand in court.”

Residents did prepare

In early 2005, when it became clear that drilling was on the way, residents at North Fork Ranch began to prepare.

They paid for baseline studies, kept records and took photos to make sure they’d have evidence if things changed.

Sure enough, they said, things did change.

“This used to be pristine country,” said Gary East, 61, who has lived in the ranch for seven years. “Now I can see the scars on the hills from drilling. The construction is unbelievable – they are changing the slogan ‘Colorful Colorado.’ ”

Last month, East sold his property.

East’s two sons work in the energy industry. He said they understand his concerns and his decision to leave the ranch – he believes drilling will make things worse.

“I know this industry generates a lot of income, and I don’t want to see people lose their jobs,” East said. “But I’d like a little respect for what we own on the surface, a little more protection of our air, our water.”

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This past weekend, a friend and I went to Trinidad to play the new Cougar Canyon golf course there, designed by Jack Nicklaus.

From the course, you get some great views, including this look at Fisher’s Peak, which was a landmark for travelers along the Santa Fe Trail. The peak overlooks the entrance to Raton Pass between Trinidad and Raton, N. M.

Lately, I’ve been reading more history on both the Boulder area and Colorado, and the story of the Santa Fe Trail, of course, is an important part of how trade developed in the West, and involved economies of New York and even London.

The golf course, while challenging with shots across canyons onto tricky greens, is certainly worth visiting. Right now, the course is offering a “stay and play” package for $99 each day (does not include cart fee.)

We played two days, and that gave us some time to explore around both the city of Trinidad and surrounding areas a bit. There’s a good variety of museum, shops, etc. in the historic downtown area.

By JW Lewis of the Boulder Report

The purchase price for New Elk was $15.4 million, the assumption of existing $2.8 million and $967,000 mine reclamation bonds and a $1.00 per ton royalty on coal sales with Cline having a buy-out right for $15 million.

The total of the acquisition costs and the capital and refurbishment expenditures to bring the mine back into commercial coal production at a production rate of 3 million tons of coal annually are estimated by New Elk management at U.S.$100 million. Cline Mining Corporation says it is in the process of arranging its ongoing financing requirements.

The New Elk Coal properties contain 315,000,000 tons of National Instrument 43-101 (”NI 43-101?) compliant in-place metallurgical steel making and thermal grade coals, according to technical reports.

The New Elk Coal assets include a coal preparation plant with a designed production capacity of 550 tons per hour, product coal silos and rail load-out, buildings, railway right of way, surface real estate, mining equipment, conveyor systems, electrics, underground workings with mine portal access from the plant site, mine permit and coal waste dump.

The Company and New Elk Coal management are proceeding with bringing the mine back into commercial production without delay. On completion of the planned capital and refurbishment input the plant and mine will have the capacity to produce 3 million tons of metallurgical steel making coal annually.

The management plan is to restart production within six months at an annual rate of 500,000 tons of coal in the first stage, initially trucking to rail head, and increasing production to the present plant design capacity of 3 million tons a year by year three with the re-installation by New Elk Coal of the rail line to the major railroad carriers from the plant to provide unit train service.

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It’s easy to fall in love with Trinidad, especially if you love architecture. That’s because among other virtues, Trinidad boasts the “El Corazon de Trinidad” National Historic District, a collection of mostly magnificent Victorian buildings ranging from Temple Aaron (to the southeast) to the Trinidad Hotel (to the northwest). To be precise, the Heart of Trinidad comprises 104 commercial buildings and 140 Victorian-style houses, all standing above streets lined with picturesque brick that reads “Trinidad.”

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Of course, there’s more to Trinidad than history. “My opinion of Trinidad is that it is still a little undiscovered jewel sitting down here,” says Danielle Rollo, broker associate with Southern Colorado Realty in Trinidad. “We have beautiful weather; we have lots of outdoor activities; the mountains are right close; we have lakes; and the architecture of all of Trinidad is special. People from out of state are discovering us — more than Coloradans are.”

….

Jim Davis, chairman of the Trinidad-Las Animas County Economic Development Board and a native Minnesotan, with his wife traveled back and forth between the borders of Colorado and New Mexico before settling in Trinidad.

“You’re always wondering if you made a good decision, but if you are attracted to the amenities in this area of the country, I really found it to be the best dollar value in real estate in the Southwest,” he says.

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