Alaska Supreme Court rejects appeal against Usibelli coalbed methane license

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http://www.adn.com/2014/02/23/3342796/alaska-supreme-court-rejects-appeal.html

Alaska Supreme Court rejects appeal against Usibelli coalbed methane license
By Alan Bailey
Petroleum News
February 23, 2014

The Alaska Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against a decision by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, to issue a license to Usibelli Coal Mine to explore for coalbed methane in the Healy area of the Alaska Interior. In a Feb. 14 decision the court said that DNR acted properly in its environmental assessment of the proposed exploration activities and, hence, that the decision to issue the license was lawful.

The exploration license encompasses about 200,000 acres of state land between Healy and Nenana, immediately east of Denali National Park. A state exploration license gives a company exclusive rights to explore for oil or gas in state lands for a specified number of years, with a commitment to some level of exploration expenditure during that time.

Denali Citizens Council, a public-interest group in the Denali Borough, had raised the appeal against the Healy license. According to the council's website, the council opposes coalbed methane exploration in settled areas and in areas viewed as important to tourism in the Healy area.

Gas from coal

Coalbed methane production involves drilling wells into coal seams and then pumping water out of the coal, thus reducing the pressure in the coal and releasing natural gas into the well. The Healy area has abundant coal seams, with possible coalbed methane potential. And, hurting from the high cost of fuel oil, people in the Interior are looking for new energy sources that might lower their energy bills.