EPA Aids Oklahoma Oil Producers Operating on Tribal Mineral Reserve
Story-Date: 08:14 p.m. PST Wednesday, August 27, 1997

EPA Aids Oklahoma Oil Producers Operating on Tribal Mineral Reserve

BY WESLEY BROWN, TULSA WORLD, OKLA.
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 28--A unique EPA program has created an unlikely bond between the
regulatory agency and small oil and gas producers in Osage County.

``This program is the first of its kind anywhere to focus on the particular
educational needs of small oil and gas producers operating on a tribal
mineral reserve,'' said Jerry Clifford, acting regional administrator for
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA is satisfied that the Osage Outreach Project is achieving its
goal of educating producers about environmental regulations, he said.

Beginning in April 1996, a work-group consisting of the EPA, the Osage
Tribal Council, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Osage Producers
Association held monthly meetings to identify technical issues that
concerned producers, and addressed special environmental concerns of
the Osage Tribe, Clifford said.

Rosemary Wood, a member of the Osage Tribal Council and chairman of the
EPA committee, said the first few meetings were difficult because of
the general lack of trust between the EPA and the oil and gas industry.

``When we first started, it was somewhat confrontational,'' Wood said.
``The oil producers felt EPA officers were kind of like Rambo. They
were more interested in fining people than in keeping the environment
clean.''

Wood said many marginal well producers across the state, especially those
who operate on Indian reserves, also felt overburdened by the massive
number of complex environmental regulations.

``The average production of these marginally producing wells is very small,
but

the same government regulations that apply to them are the same ones that
apply to major oil companies,'' Wood said. ``Yet, the large oil companies
have whole divisions dedicated to environmental issues with whole
staffs of experts.

``For these small producers, family members are sometimes the only staff

they have, and to try to learn all these complicated rules is virtually
impossible.''

Wood added that in the case of Osage Tribal reserves, oil and gas producers
not only have EPA rules to cope with, but ``we also have to deal with
sometimes

conflicting regulations from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.''

Wood said the meetings over the last year have enabled the government
agencies and Osage officials to find some middle ground.

The EPA's Clifford agreed.

``We are indeed grateful to the dedicated work-group ... for working very
hard to make this program a truly collaborative effort,'' he said.

The meetings led the EPA to publish two manuals that give Osage
producers important information to help them avoid paying high penalties
associated with environmental violations.

The ``Osage Operator's Environmental Reference Manual'' is a
comprehensive book that covers a range of topics from Clean Water Act
requirements and injection well requirements to oil spill prevention
control and how to prevent oil and brine discharges that are harmful to
surface water.

The smaller ``Osage Operator's Environmental Handbook'' is a quick
reference guide that oil producers can carry in a glove compartment.

Both the reference manual and the handbook address topics related to
EPA and Bureau of Indian Affairs regulatory requirements.

Wood said she believes Osage producers and EPA officials

have become more trusting of each other.

``Today, there is more emphasis on education and technological advances to
protecting the environment, and less emphasis on fines,'' she said.

Richard Sherman, executive director of the Oklahoma Commission on
Marginally Producing Oil and Gas Wells, said the spirit of cooperation
between EPA and the Osage Tribe will benefit all small producers in
Oklahoma.

Sherman noted that 80 percent of the state's oil comes from marginal wells
that produce an average of 2.3 barrels a day. He said the penalty of not
knowing certain environmental regulations could cause a number of
producers to go out of business.

``These regulations, along with the cost of personnel and electricity,
raise the price of getting the oil out of the ground,'' Sherman said.
``With efforts like those in Osage County, along with the seminars we hold
across the state on EPA rules, the Oklahoma oil and gas industry will
continue to be a vital part of the state's economy.''

EPA officials said the outreach project will continue over the next
year, with a number of workshops planned at the EPA field office in
Pawhuska.

For more information about the workshops, call the field office at
287-4041.

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(c) 1997, The Tulsa (Okla.) World. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune
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