A rig lights up the night sky on one of Apache Corporation's Alpine High wells. [credit: Apache... [+]
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In all of life's endeavors, people and companies often face a choice between doing things the right way and doing things the easy way. The oil and natural gas industry is certainly no exception to this rule.
When it comes to the development of newly-discovered resources, concerns are often expressed by stakeholders in surrounding communities. Quite often, the choice faced by oil and gas companies can come down to investing the time and dollars necessary to address such concerns and allay public fears up front, or simply plowing ahead and enforcing their legal rights to develop the resource.
Taking the latter approach can be cheaper and quicker, at least initially, and to be fair to the industry, the issues that come up are often false and raised by professional anti-development groups rather than developing organically within a community. So it is somewhat understandable why some operators simply dismiss such unfounded issues and proceed ahead without taking the time to make their case to the communities involved. But the truth is that over the decades, the industry has done itself an overwhelming amount of reputational damage by taking this 'damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead' approach.
Back in early September, I wrote about Apache Corporation's new Alpine High discovery in far West Texas. Prior to that announcement, stakeholders in the area had already begun raising concerns about possible impacts the development of this huge new mineral resource might have on groundwater in the area generally, and more specifically on Balmorhea State Park, where the San Solomon Springs supply water to one of the world's largest spring-fed pools, long a landmark tourist attraction for the region. Apache had already committed to not drill any wells within the boundaries of the state park - where it owns leases - or within the community of Balmorhea itself, to voluntarily conduct periodic testing of groundwater, to implement a water recycling program in conjunction with the development, and had further stated its intent to source water for its operations from the region's plentiful brackish water resources.
The company could have left it at that and proceeded ahead with development, and remained well within its legal rights to do so under Texas law. After all, there is no legal requirement to take the voluntary measures to which it had already committed; many operators wouldn't have been willing to go even that far and would have focused instead on enforcing their legal right to drill.
But last week the company revealed that it would go even further in its commitment to assure residents and other stakeholders that their groundwater is not being impacted by its operations. In a joint release, Apache and the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) announced that they will partner "to conduct a baseline water quality study of groundwater and surface water" in the area. The study, funded in part by a grant by Apache, will be conducted by UTA chemists through the university's Collaborative Laboratory for Environmental Analysis and Remediation (CLEAR), which has previously produced several other studies of water quality around oilfield and agricultural operations in Texas.
“This marks an exciting opportunity for our team to collaborate with an industry partner in an area with an extremely sensitive ecology,” said Kevin Schug, UTA’s Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry and director of the CLEAR lab. “Through this partnership, we will be able to conduct a baseline analysis of both surface and groundwater quality in the area which will provide important data for future monitoring efforts.”
In its own statement, Apache said, "UT Arlington announced their interest in doing a study this past spring and launched a fundraising campaign in order to make the testing and study possible. After discussions with their team, we decided partnering with them and making a financial contribution to help in their efforts is the right thing to do. UTA will conduct an independent collection of data and analysis."
By taking this collaborative approach with a highly-regarded research laboratory, Apache is creating a win/win/win situation for all parties. UTA is able to conduct what its personnel believe will become a ground-breaking piece of work; the community and other stakeholders in the area will receive greater assurance that their water and major tourist attraction will remain unspoiled; and Apache will be able to move forward with developing a massive new mineral resource while giving its own corporate reputation a boost.
A swimmer prepares to dive into the famous spring-fed pool at Balmorhea State Park. [Photo courtesy... [+]
Apache is telling its own story where the Alpine High is concerned, working collaboratively with experts and stakeholders to educate the community about why its operations are safe and responsible. Its' own corporate reputation will be enhanced in the near term as a result. The entire industry's reputation could also be enhanced over the long run if the kinds of steps Apache is taking were to become a part of every operator's core business model.
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