Ag producers worry about CBM water

When the soil in Roger Muggli's fields turned bad last year, damaging more than 300 acres of alfalfa, the third-generation farmer quickly settled on a culprit: coal-bed methane drilling along the nearby Tongue River.

It's a charge that has made Muggli few friends in a region where economic development is desperately sought after and future coal-bed methane development could mean hundreds of new jobs. His claims are denied by industry representatives and some federal scientists, who say there is no way to prove Muggli's assertion of a tie between coal-bed methane and his bad soil.

But state officials and an independent researcher who investigated the case warned that Muggli's problems could be a harbinger of more to come, as the industry prepares to dramatically ramp up operations across 20 million acres in southeastern Montana in coming years. They said his fields bear the hallmarks of coal-bed methane effects, though they were careful to add that a direct link was impossible to prove.

"We knew this was coming and we wanted to prepare for it," said Richard Opper, director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. "It's definitely a wake-up call when you see the impact."

from the AP