Department of Natural Resources Secretary Jack Caldwell announced today a new Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Conservation. James H. Welsh, Director of the Injection and Mining Division for the department since 1983, was named to the position effective April 15, 1996.

Commissioner of Conservation Philip N. Asprodites assembled Office of Conservation field agents to Baton Rouge for a training seminar last week to review the latest legal and environmental issues affecting site inspections of oil and gas wells in Louisiana. The Commissioner sees education and training of his staff as high priority in these highly technical times.

The state Office of Conservation has begun implementing stricter guidelines in pursuing operators of abandoned oil and gas wells and pits in the state. This month the Oilfield Site Restoration Commission voted to have Commissioner of Conservation Philip N. Asprodites recommend appropriate legal actions against operators of orphaned well sites in Louisiana.

The Department of Natural Resources' Office of Conservation will begin holding oil and gas public hearings in the Shreveport-Bossier area beginning Thursday, January 8, 1998. Commissioner of Conservation Warren Fleet said that oil and gas unitization hearings will be conducted each month in the Churchill Room, Holiday Inn Bossier City, from 9 am to 5 pm. Commissioner Fleet said having meetings in the northern part of the state fulfills legislative Act 208 as authored by Senator Max Malone. Senator Malone represents Bossier and Caddo parishes.

Louisiana Mineral Board Secretary Marjorie McKeithen, Commissioner of Conservation James Welsh, and Mineral Board member Carol LeBlanc recently visited several energy companies in Oklahoma on April 18-19, 2007, as part of a series of meetings with energy industry officials from the top oil and gas producing states.

Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation James H. Welsh has issued an order, effective as of Aug.1, 2009, to establish practices, safeguards and regulations for natural gas exploration and production in urban areas of the Haynesville Shale.

The Commissioner of Conservation issued a draft order today declaring portions of the Sparta Aquifer in north Louisiana to be critical ground water areas. The issuance of the draft order (CGWA-1-04) is the result of an application made by the Sparta Ground Water Conservation District in 2002.

Commissioner Philip N. Asprodites met with his Texas counterpart, Charles Matthews, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, in January to discuss the current status of the oil and gas industry. The Office of Conservation and the Texas Railroad Commission regulate the oil and gas industries in their respective states. Commissioner Asprodites and Chairman Matthews discussed possible severance tax relief on oil production when the price drops below a certain level. Commissioner Asprodites supports the proposal of the Louisiana Independent Oil and Gas Association that would redefine incapable wells as stripper wells when oil prices fall below fifteen dollars a barrel, thereby suspending the collection of severance taxes on incapable wells. The fiscal impact of such a freeze would be less than three million dollars to the state treasury.

The Louisiana Ground Water Commission met at a special north Louisiana venue Thursday to hear and discuss reports provided by staff on ground water protection efforts focused in that part of the state.

Commissioner of Conservation Philip N. Asprodites today released a study and final report by LSU scientists, characterizing the state’s oilfield exploration and production (E&P) waste for both heavy metals and volatile organic constituents. The report entitled, “TCLP Characterization of Exploration and Production Wastes in Louisiana” was submitted to Department of Natural Resources and Office of Conservation officials to complete Phase 1 of evaluating E&P wastes.

The Louisiana Ground Water Resources Commission met Monday to update new members on current ground water issues and begin mapping out the process for addressing them.

BATON ROUGE—Louisiana Commissioner of Conservation Philip Asprodites today issued a fourth Emergency Rule under Statewide Order No. 29-B to continue validating and analyzing oilfield waste samples for up to 120 days, but imposing tighter restrictions that require produced saltwater and pipeline test water to be stored in closed containers and to be injected in Class II wells. According to Commissioner Asprodites and officials at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), validation and analysis of the waste samples from the state’s commercial disposal facilities are nearly complete and a permanent rule is not far behind. DNR Secretary Jack Caldwell said, “Technical consultants should be forthcoming with the requested health risk analysis. Shortly after we receive that study, Commissioner Asprodites will issue the permanent rule that will determine acceptable storage, treatment and disposal methods of oil and gas exploration and production waste.” Commissioner Asprodites said, “Best management practices based on established E&P waste profiles, specific storage, treatment and disposal practices will lead to the draft of the permanent rule. We’ll then present the new rule in public hearings. We anticipate having a draft plan by spring of this year.” DNR officials issued the first Emergency Rule in May 1998 to gather technical data that would show the chemical and physical makeup of E&P waste disposed at permitted commercial waste disposal facilities across the state. The amended rule can be found on the Internet within the DNR homepage at http://www.dnr.state.la.us/sec/execdiv/pubinfo/newsr/finaler6.pdf Editors: For more information, please contact the Office of Conservation at 225-342-5500 or DNR Public Information at 225-342-4844.