Gillette, WY

CBM Destroys Retirement Dream    

By Ron Moss  

Let me share with you my first impression of Gillette when I got off the airplane in Gillette 14 years ago. I came here for a job interview for a position at the Northern Wyoming Community College, Gillette Campus operated by Sheridan College. It was a beautiful day. I felt so good about being here I was hoping that after the interview they would offer me the college position. Before I boarded the plane the next day to go back to Wisconsin I was offered the job. Needless to say, I was thrilled.

During that short visit back in 1987 I experienced my first contact with methane. Campbell County was evacuating Rawhide Village due to a severe methane problem. At that time a total community was uprooted and forced to move. I knew right then that after I returned to Gillette with my family, I would buy a house and property as far away as possible from Rawhide Village. I ended up buying a house and 20 acres in a rural subdivision 10 miles west of Gillette. We bought the house and property with the idea that this is where we would live after I retired. After working for the college for 12 years I retired and have been so for two years.

During the first ten years living in our home we were very happy. Even though we only have 20 acres of sagebrush, we felt very blessed living with nature and the peaceful, quiet surroundings. Then it started. They began drilling for methane east of me.

My first thought was what was going to happen to my water well when they removed all the water from underground. I and others met with three producers and each one assured us that nothing would happen to our well water. We in the subdivision have our own individual wells. Right now I still have water; however, although I had good water for over 10 years I started to get methane in my water after they started drilling. Coincidence? I think not.

I thought in my mind about the methane that closed down Rawhide Village. The methane got so bad in my well that the hose I used for filling the horse tank with water would blow out of the tank unless I held on to it. And I can tell you one thing: You never wanted to flush the toilet while you were sitting on it! Humor helps but when the State of Wyoming told my wife not to light a match near the source of water, humor quickly left. I talked to the methane producer and was told they would be happy to monitor my well; however I would just have to prove they were the cause of the problems. Let me ask you, how can someone living on Social Security and a small Wyoming retirement benefit afford to challenge the producer? I definitely could not. Although the methane in the water has now subsided considerably (not ended but subsided,) I feel our retirement home has been down graded.

Now comes the second phase. The dreadful noise generated by a nearby large compressor station. Noise that was so loud that our dog was too frightened to go outside to do his business without a lot of coaxing. Noise that sounds like a jet plane circling over your house for 24 hours a day. Noise that is constant. Noise that drives people to the breaking point.

My neighbor called the sheriff, state officials and even the governor and was told nothing could be done about the noise.

Like I said, the noise drives people to the breaking point, and my neighbor fired 17 rifle shots toward the station. Unfortunately he received a lot of grief for his actions; however he got the company's attention.

And after many telephone calls and after numerous letters by various neighbors (and eight months later) the company owning the compressor station finally made some modifications to the compressor station to help alleviate some of the noise. However the noise is still a problem for a number of the neighbors. The company also planted 40 small trees around the station to create a sound barrier. I am already retired and at my old age do you really think 40 trees are going to help me?

One methane producer using the compressor station said the noise wasn't so bad. Of course he doesn't live anywhere near it. The going phrase right now is that we all need to be good neighbors. In order to be a good neighbor I am being asked to accept the current noise level for the good of the industry and what the industry is doing for the State of Wyoming. All I can say is that my retirement home has taken one more step down for the worse.

Now I want to share with you one final event that has shattered our dream of living in our retirement home. A dream that began 14 years ago, when my wife and I moved to Gillette. We are finally licked. Last year my wife suffered severe asthma attacks on four different occasions. Even with medication and the use of a Breathalyzer she nearly had to go to the hospital emergency ward to get help to breathe. Why is this happening now and not before CBM development? It's because during the height of CBM development when you looked over the valleys surrounding our home and Gillette, you didn't see the clean air that once existed. I don't have time to go into details about the problem, but I can tell you I was so thankful for the recent moisture and wind to help clean the surrounding air we breathe. I cannot and will not allow my wife to suffer like she did last summer. My retirement home in the rural subdivision is now useless to me.

I can now relate to all those families that had to evacuate their homes in 1987 due to methane. However where they didn't have a solution to their problem, my problem with water, noise and air pollution could have been alleviated with advanced planning by industry in cooperation with the State of Wyoming. Guidelines would have been established to allow them to drill and ship in a responsible manner this valuable resource that exists in the Powder River Basin. I feel it isn't too late to establish these basic guidelines for the well being of ALL the citizens of Wyoming. We as citizens all have the right to enjoy the good life this great state has to offer. Right now that isn't the case for me. Thank you for allowing me to share with you my experience with methane while living in a rural subdivision.

Reprinted with permission from the Powder River Basin Resource Council's Coalbed Methane Monitor. Winter 2002/2003.