The Raton Basin in New Mexico and Colorado is rich with natural gas embedded in coal-bed seams. Rich Larson, a geologist and the environmental manager for Vermejo Park Ranch, estimates between 2,500 and 3,000 wells are in production around the basin. "There's going to be a significant push for coal-bed methane development," Larson said.
Methane gas is trapped between the seams and surrounded by water. The first steps in mining it are to construct roads, build well pads and drill a hole to lower pumps and drill bits.

At Vermejo Park, the waste rock is incorporated back into the landscape and the area is reseeded with native vegetation.

To release the gas trapped in the coal bed, the seam must be fractured and a fluid or sand forced into the crack, according to Donald R. Lankford, operations manager for El Paso Production Co. on Vermejo Park Ranch.

The process, known as hydraulic fracturing or fracing (rhymes with cracking), requires specialized equipment, Lankford said. Haliburton conducts the fracturing process on Vermejo Park Ranch for El Paso, he said. "It takes a lot of trucks, a lot of power, a lot of people."

Some companies use an acid and diesel fuel in the fracing process, a practice that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned in a 2002 report was contaminating ground water. Many companies capture the waste water produced during drilling in lined pits.

In Vermejo, sand suspended in a wheat-based auger gel -- with a chemical added to prevent bacterial growth -- is used to keep the coal-bed seam open. No diesel fuel is used, and water extracted during the drilling process is sent through pipes to deep injection wells on the ranch.

According to a 2004 EPA report, the water produced during drilling meets drinking-water-quality standards.


Publication date: 2005-06-05