This weekend, I kayaked the Green River Lakes in Sublette County, Wyoming. Considered to be the headwaters of the Green River and with a picturesque view of Square Top Mountain, shown above, the Green River Lakes were incredibly scenic. Coming from the hustle and bustle of Denver, aside from the serenity, the first thing that I noticed was the air quality as I was paddling out on the glass-like lake.
The air in Sublette County was perfect that afternoon.
In case you are not very familiar with Wyoming, this area is near Pinedale, where the Upper Green River Basin has had past issues with ozone pollution. The Jonah Field, "heralded as one of the most significant on-shore natural gas discoveries in the second half of the 20th century," is just south of Pinedale.
According to the Casper Star Tribune, "[h]eavy production and geography led to ozone pollution comparable to large cities like Los Angeles" in the area.
As reported by the Casper Star Tribune, "[f]rom environmentalists and regulators to the oil and gas industry, Pinedale is a success story." "Leaks are one of the biggest offenders when it comes to volatile organic compounds — the compounds that create ozone. In the effort to bring down pollution in Pinedale, quarterly checks for leaks became a regular part of business in the Upper Green River Basin. The area has its own rules from the DEQ because of its history of pollution."
In fact, the Wyoming Business Report featured an article yesterday entitled, "Jonah Energy Cuts Costs by Stopping Methane Leaks: Approach Touted as Making Both Economic and Environmental Sense."
As mentioned in the article, Jonah Energy, LLC was discussed in a whitepaper published in the Oil and Gas Journal – Optical Gas Imaging at Jonah Energy: Saving Gas and Saving Money Through Regular OGI Surveys. Jonah Energy, LLC is reportedly an early adopter of Optical Gas Imaging ("OGI") and has been very successful reducing emissions, which not only adds to the bottom line but has a positive impact on the environment.
- Is this important outside of Wyoming?
Yes, the EPA is reportedly planning to recommend OGI as an alternative to Method 21 for leak detection and repair, which relies on toxic vapor analyzers (TVAs) to detect gas leaks.
Colorado has also reportedly rewritten their inspection rules to permit the use of OGI to identify sources of emission leaks and venting; other producing states are in the process of revising their inspection regulations.
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