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February 18, 2009 08:29 PM UTC

Dude! Got any "first-hand information" in that truck?

  • 21 Comments
  • by: ardy39

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

The Heartland Institute has web-published a story supposedly about the environmental impacts of drilling on the Roan Plateau. It’s scheduled to come out in its magazine “Environment & Climate News” on March 1, 2009. The story is entitled First-Hand Look Shows Drilling Impacts Are Minimal.

To research this story, the Heartland Institute sent out a lawyer from Florida, a Mr. James M. Taylor. Thus, you can anticipate that there will be little actual environmental information and the errors are going to be the stuff of legend. You can also anticipate that local Republicans are going to wave this account around as supporting “evidence” in their largely impotent attempts to disembowel the new COGCC rules.

Quotes, commentary, links, and an exercise below the fold …

In documenting that he was “thorough” in “conducting” his “research” into the issue, Mr. Taylor reports that:

I spent two days in November crisscrossing the Roan Plateau of northwestern Colorado, northeastern Utah, and southwestern Wyoming.

Leave aside the fact that the Roan Plateau is located entirely within Colorado, and ask yourself if two days is sufficient time for a novice non-resident to collect sufficient reliable “first-hand information” given that an objective is to cover major portions of three western states? And even if this is all the time available, is November a desirable time for assessing impacts to vegetation or wildlife?

But then Mr. Taylor claims:

Oil and natural gas in the Roan Plateau are as concentrated as anywhere else in the lower 48 states.

Which is true if you consider other states (e.g., New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and even eastern Colorado) not to be part of the lower 48.

In his description of the area, we learn that:

The Roan Plateau is “high desert.” Most of the region receives less than 10 inches of precipitation per year.

This might seem reasonable if you are from Florida, can’t identify plants, don’t care to look at a map, and don’t know where to find weather data. But most outdoor-savvy people would not expect to find spruce, lodgepole, fir, aspen, deciduous woodlands, and mixed mountain shrub vegetation communities in “high desert.” I guess this seemingly curious phenomenon of the actual vegetation not resembling a “high desert” ecosystem might be explained by the fact that much of the top of the Roan Plateau receives over 40 inches of precipitation annually? (Start here for rainfall or here for vegetation maps, if you are not offended by evidence.)

Some of Mr. Taylor’s inability to accurately describe Roan Plateau ecosystems might also be due to his decision to collect “first-hand information” in the vicinity of Rio Blanco County Road 142, which is located well north of the Roan Plateau and is even north of the White River and at less than 6,000 feet in elevation. (The well location in his second photo is at 5,984 ft. according to COGCC records.) Oops!

Oddly, Mr. Taylor felt it was important to point out that in his “study area”:

Wellheads and structures are typically located at least a hundred yards from one another, preserving the sense of openness.

Acknowledging that there is 100 yards between each facility does not leave for much “sense of openness” given that a 2 acre well pad site, if square, would be approximately 98 yards on a side. Perhaps parking lots are considered “open space” in Mr. Taylor’s neighborhood near St. Petersburg, Florida?

But the coup de grace is Mr. Taylor’s report on his collection of “first-hand information” on resource development’s impacts on wildlife:

While I was taking pictures of the EnCana field, an area resident drove by in a pickup truck. I asked him if he had ever noticed the facilities having any negative impacts on wildlife.

That’s correct, the entirety of Mr. Taylor’s “first-hand information” on drilling’s impacts on wildlife is a second-hand, anecdotal, and unconfirmed statement from an unnamed dude in a pickup truck. This would be precious if Mr. Taylor was a second grader.

To wrap this up, in his third photo, Mr. Taylor identifies what he terms a “typical natural gas wellhead.” This is not an inaccurate statement, but what he neglects to mention or photograph is the 7.5 acre gas processing plant beside the road just one half mile from the EnCana well. Nor does he mention that there are at least 14 additional wells plus other ancillary sites in the same square mile section that includes the EnCana well.

What is wrong with these sorts of people? Why does a lawyer from Florida think he is qualified to assess environmental impacts of industrial activity in northwestern Colorado? Is there a legal definition for “first-hand information” that differs from common usage of the term? Don’t Dartmouth College and Syracuse University (Taylor’s alma maters) teach their students how to find factual information about the natural world?

How did we get to this position where an educated adult considers three photos taken from a car, and a conversation with a pickup driver, sufficient to evaluate “environmental tradeoffs?”

We obviously have a long way to go before we can claim to have not left any child behind.

Sigh.

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21 thoughts on “Dude! Got any “first-hand information” in that truck?”

  1. but the area in contention is all in CO, formerly the Naval Oil Shale Reserve.  It is not the land the ‘author’; was touring, however, as he was driving along Piceance Creek and HWY 64 (according to the article I read).  I like how he notes that all the vegetation was brown (in November no less) and that there are no impacts to wildlife based on a conversation he had with some guy driving by in a pick up.  And he’s their ‘science’ guy.  Good thing Big Oil doesn’t mind paying for crap, as long as it supports their position, otherwise this guy would be out of a job.  

  2. Could he have only driven by the Wattenburg field? It is High Plains Desert; has all sorts of wellheads; lots of dudes hanging around the bars; and does not require a lot of  driving around outside of a metropolitan region.

    No roughing it in the smelly oil and gas fields.

  3. The Heartland Institute frequently turns up whenever there’s misinformation going around in the media regarding energy or environmental issues such as climate change

    http://colorado.mediamatters.o…

    All you really need to know though is that right-wing blogger, verbosity artist and BSer Ross Kaminsky contributes content to Heartland and frequently cites them as a “source” on climate issues. ‘Nuff said.

    1. Nothing more needs to be said. That guy is such a laughable fraud that anyone or anything connected to him should probably just be dismissed out of hand.

      Nice job on the radio this morning Bill M

  4. I bet you can gather better “first-hand information” than Mr. Taylor in a few minutes without leaving your desk.

    Navigate to 40.111109 latitude and (-)108.190935 longitude using Google Earth. (You can download version 5 here .)

    This is the location of that EnCana WRD Federal #29-32 gas well depicted in the second photo of Taylor’s story.

    Take a look for yourself at what a well pad disturbance looks like.

    You might consider the contribution of additional well pads, roads, and other facility sites visible nearby to the cumulative habitat disturbance and fragmentation.

    Perhaps you want to investigate some areas actually on the Roan Plateau proper?

    Then navigate to 39.483134 & -108.166462.

    Or take a look at this major intersection of pipelines and compressor stations near 39.893258 & -108.194826.

    Or if you want a look at the base of the Roan Plateau, just navigate to 39.509523 & -108.902793.

    Or, head over to western Rio Blanco County to 39.828673 & -108.806939 and start at an altitude of about 15 miles. Note all the white flecks on the mottled green background in the northern half of the view. As you zoom in you’ll realize all those “flecks” are well pads and that they are all connected to each other by a web of roads and pipeline corridors.

    (Recall that some images are several years old and thus may not reflect current conditions on the ground.)

    Anyway, after you’ve squandered this time ogling the Roan Plateau on Google Earth, assess whether this experience qualifies you to be an expert in assessing the environmental impacts of drilling for natural gas. If you think it does, you might want to contact the Managing Editor of Environment & Climate News and inquire about a contract for a follow up “first-hand” account of the impacts of natural gas extraction on the actual geographic area known as the Roan Plateau.

    1. as opposed to something that might actually tell him where the Roan Plateau was, and clearly driving around the Piceance BASIN (as in not a Plateau) and Rangly, Meeker (on HWY 64 and Rio Blanco County–the Roan Plateau runs from western GarCo into eastern Utah, with only a tiny portion in RB County, and far south of the White River).  Where did this guy get his ‘law’ degree?  Oral Roberts U?

      1. One thing that has become apparent is that Mr. Taylor is quite frugal with his time.

        During his two days in the CO-UT-WY area, he not only “thoroughly” “researched” gas drilling environmental impacts, he also wrote a “comprehensive” account of oil shale potential AND impacts. This one was titled A First-Hand View of Oil Shale Country”.

        Curiously, he didn’t get around to much more than Hwy 64 and CR 142. He was so enamored with this intersection that he included a photo of the sign in his story. Surprisingly (Not!), he was struck by the fact that all the vegetation was brown in November.

        BTW, his law degree is from Syracuse U. Maybe he was there with Carmello Anthony?

        1. He writes:

          Important in this debate is the extent to which modern technology minimizes the environmental impact of natural resource recovery. In contrast to the technology of yesteryear, engineers today can extract the valuable oil from shale through underground heating processes that do not use up water resources, cause minimal environmental damage during the extraction process, and leave the post-production landscape nearly identical to its condition before the oil extraction.

          The RAND Institute (no foe of oil shale development) writes:

          Land Use and Ecological Impacts. Of all the environmental impacts of oil shale

          development, the most serious appears to be the extent to which land will be disturbed.

          Regardless of the technical approach to oil shale development, a portion of

          the land over the Green River Formation will need to be withdrawn from current

          uses, and there could be permanent topographic changes and impacts on flora and

          fauna.

          Indeed, even the more ‘benign’ in-situ method requires 100% ground disturbance, as the whole area is bladed flat and punctured with 1000 foot deep heaters on a grid with spacing at roughly 10′ by 10′.  The amount of water required has not been disclosed by Shell or the other companies experimenting with developing the resource, but somewhere between 3-5 barrels of water (all from the over-appropriated CO River Basin–which waters seven states) will be needed for each barrel of oil produced.  Then there are the tens of thousands of new residents that a commercial oil shale industry would require, yes–people need water.

          Of course its likely that several new coal-fired power plants will be needed, or power-plants of some sort able to convert a cheap form of energy into an expensive form (making coal the most likely source).  

          And there is getting the resource to market. Sure we like our cars in Colorado but its not like this is the market–rather they need to get the product to California or the midwest, meaning a thousand mile petroleum pipeline, either up and over the Divide, or across and around the numerous ranges in Utah or Nevada and California.  

          This guy is a crackhead.  He doesn’t even know where he’s at–the Uinta/Piceance Basin is not the Roan Plateau! (The Roan Plateau sits in the Piceance, rises 3,000 feet above it actually).

          But the Roan Plateau is a plateau (not a basin) that rises to 8,000-9,000 feet and runs from western Garfield County into eastern Utah. The Green River Formation–which is the oil shale resource target–covers a 16,000 square mile region (primarily focused in the greater Uinta/Piceance Basin).  To get at the amount of resource Mr. Taylor lustfully describes would take destruction of the entire region–nearly all 16,000 square miles.  And no, the land won’t look the same after its done.  

  9. Couldn’t we make a law that allowed us to throw “perpetrators of claptrap” in the pokey with heroin dealers and child molesters?

    I have been listening to (and trying to counter) oil and gas industry propoganda for a long time, and it is hard to think of a more thoroughly unresearched and bogus story.

  10. for this great diary, a subject very close to my heart (and home).

    I sent an email to Mr. Taylor suggesting that he pull his head out of his arse…its probably too deeply embedded, but I thought it was the kind thing to do.  I’ll be watching for the full article in March and do what I can to embarrass the fool (if his head remains implanted where I imagine it will).  

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