RAWLINS (AP) — A court challenge to increased coal-bed methane development on the Atlantic Rim has yielded a document that contradicts the Bureau of Land Management’s public position on whether new drilling will cause more gas seepage from the ground.

Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, said court records resulting from a lawsuit filed by his organization and four other groups contain a document from the BLM about how drilling has boosted the number of methane gas seeps on the Atlantic Rim.

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http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/03/04/news/wyoming/ed11ff26dbf1499d872574020001556d.txt

SHERIDAN, Wyo. – Two workshops are being held for landowners and interested persons in areas of coal-bed methane (CBM) development this March in Sheridan, Wyo., and Rawlins, Wyo.

Organized by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES), the Sheridan workshop is 1-5 p.m. Friday, March 7, at Sheridan College’s Joe and Arlene Watt Agriculture Center in room 131 and 132. The event in Rawlins is 1-5 p.m. Friday, March 28, in the Carbon Building. Details of the Rawlins workshop will be released as they become available.

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http://www.theprairiestar.com/articles/2008/03/06/ag_news/updates/update00.txt 

CHEYENNE — The European Union ambassador to the United States believes it is vital to the future of the environment that energy specialists in Europe establish a dialogue with their Wyoming counterparts.

By 2020, the EU has committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below the 1990 level.

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http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2008/02/29/news/20local_02-29-08.txt 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) A bill that would have allowed greater state regulation of water discharged from coal bed methane wells died in the Wyoming State Senate on Monday after what some senators said was a stiff lobbying effort by the energy industry to kill the bill.

The bill, Senate File 46, would have limited the quality of water discharged from CBM gas wells to the natural capacity of streambeds that carry the natural flow of water in the area.

The bill also would have allowed landowners concerned about CBM water flowing over their lands to contact the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office to require construction of ditches or similar structures to control the flow.

State officials have said the industry pumps about 600 million barrels of water from coal aquifers in the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming every year. Some of the water is used in irrigation and to water livestock, but a majority of the water is not put to a specific beneficial use.

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http://cbs4denver.com/coloradowire/22.0.html?type=local&state=WY&category=n&filename=WY-XGR–CBMWater.xml

CHEYENNE — A legislative committee rejected an amendment Monday that would have barred Wyoming landowners from selling their land separately from the space below it.

However, the committee voted to leave it up to the courts to determine whether pore space is severable from land ownership on a case-by-case basis.

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http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/02/25/news/breaking/doc47c312eb97568956959597.txt 

CHEYENNE — The Senate Judiciary Committee today took up a bill that would give Wyoming landowners rights to space in the ground below their property.

If the Senate Judiciary Committee approves the bill, the measure would need to pass the Senate and get the governor’s approval before becoming law.