NAHATA DZIIL – In the Redland grasslands at the southern end of the Navajo Nation, El Pahi sits next to what looks like a clinical experiment for children, but on a larger scale.
Six soft blue pill-shaped tanks are placed next to what looks like a huge air conditioning window unit and a silver cylindrical tank. A constant, sharp hum pierces the air when the wind blows on the beach.
The ship is a moving station for a helium extraction operation, one of which is being developed in the remote region. Non-toxic fuel exists in some of the highest concentrations in North America, and in all likelihood in the world, in the Navajo Nation wallet. and northeastern Arizona.
Helium is the most deeply detailed time in the universe, yet it is a short source on Earth, where market imbalances continually cause global scarcity. Non-combustible fuel has been extracted as a by-product of oil and herbal fuel, but personal drilling corporations are increasingly interested in self-extraction.
Beyond balloons and aircraft, helium has key uses in medical devices such as MRIs, semiconductors, and area technology. Physicist and university researchers rely on helium for their experiments.
But as businesses began drilling, local citizens and environmentalists in this corner of the state have responded with concern to growing interest, fearing that hydraulic fracturing, colloquially known as “hydraulic fracturing,” will reach Arizona and endanger freshwater aquifers and air. .
Companies and industry experts say helium extraction is a much more benign procedure than the type of hydraulic fracturing used in oil and fuel operations in states like Texas and Pennsylvania. Government agencies say they have sufficient regulations in a position to prevent environmental degradation.
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Confused jurisdiction over surface and mineral rights, opaque communication with residents, and the unique nature of oil and fuel have further fueled mistrust among communities and agencies overseeing drilling companies. locals are skeptical at best.
“There is no open communication, no transparency for: ‘That’s exactly what’s going on, that’s what we’re doing and how does it sound?'” said Robyn Jackson, coordinator of the nonprofit Diné CARE, which focuses on environmental justice issues in the Navajo Nation.
The helium industry is not new – fuel drilling took place in Arizona in the 1960s and 1970s – but renewed interest leaves small communities on the front line with problems and government agencies seeking protections in position.
Pahi, a retired engineer and rancher, pointed to a muddy spot on the ground.
“We don’t know what it is, what those chemicals are using,” he said. “I am frustrated through the government, whether it is the Navajo government and the federal government. It turns out that they don’t care about the other people who live here, their lives, their way of life. “
Navajo Nation bankruptcy Nahata Dziil occupies 350,000 acres of ranches, called New Lands. Approximately 30 miles north of Petrified Forest National Park, away from billboards on roads advertising Kachina dolls and Native American arts, the landscape stretches over an infinite plane, dotted with scrub and the shadow of some occasional pettyness.
The new lands are controlled through a federal firm called the Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation Office (ONHIR), created after the Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act was passed by Congress in 1974, which, at first glance, sought historic land disputes between the two Tribes. The act resulted in the forced resettlement of tens of thousands of Navajo in New Lands.
But the government bought the mining rights to the land, leaving it open to exploration, which today annoys Pahi.
About a mile on a dirt road from the helium motion station, a modest drilling well comes off the ground. Looks like a stereotypical oil and fuel well. There is no pumpjack with horse’s head or a 300-meter-high fracking platform. . It’s more like an undeniable plumbing system.
In 2019, a Dallas-based Ranger Development LLC contractor drilled the well. During the process, staff left debris and construction fabrics in the Pahi Array, and shared images of the waste left in the With The Arizona Republic.
The well was not well fenced, allowing cattle access to a water-filled ditch used for drilling, Pahi said. They chewed rubbish and fabrics left in the place. A breeder discovered a dead cow a few feet from the well, from which foam flowed. Pahi went out and saw him himself. Another breeder had also discovered a cow near a well with a similar appearance. They suspect that the animals drank infected water or ate something at the site, they can’t get it out. A breeder was reimbursed through Ranger for the loss.
For the rest of the drilling process, Pahi kept his farm animals out of this pasture. He is one of 39 licensees grazing on the 350,000-acre ranch from his Native American Beef Brand, a Navajo farm animal cooperative that produces sustainable meat.
Pahi said he had repeatedly tried to alert the segment’s commissioners and had complained to ONHIR in vain.
“There were a lot of plastic bottles, garbage, plastic bags,” Pahi said. “We ended up cleaning this whole area. And that’s not our job. These other people want to keep the environment clean. “
It was only when Pahi met with a law enforcement officer from the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency at a convention that the company warned about the problems. Ranger cleaned up the rest of the mess and added fences two weeks later, said Anderson Harvey, who opened The Investigation into Pahi’s Complaints. The factor is still pending because COVID-19 was interrupted in a time after extra work, Harvey said.
“They left all kinds of tee on site, a component of the un fenced-out drilling domain,” Harvey said. “They hit T-posts and installed a plastic lawn fence around, which is not the right way to fence. The farm animals walked right up and, unfortunately, that’s what happened.
A spokesman for the park rangers said the company had complied with its contracts with local control and ONHIR and that when he alerted to the complaints, he responded at the right time. The company is not required to speak directly to licensees.
“Ranger prides himself on being a neighbor and spouse respectful of local tribes,” the spokesman said in an email. “Whenever the company alerted to a challenge, and there were very few, Ranger without delay and corrected it. There is no evidence of notable challenges similar to our paintings there. »
The water trenches are full and the debris is gone, but Pahi still has questions about some stains on the floor and a liquid that seems to escape the moving station. An abandoned tanker is still near a helium well covered in the grass. the fuel tank made siphon, the seats were covered with faeces and chewed the wildlife.
Ranger is running lately with newly elected commissioners Nahata Dziil and ONHIR on a new contract to drill nine more wells, however, the new control plans to back up.
“We are taking a position against this,” said newly elected commissioner LaVonne Tsosie. “Mr. Pahi and the families there had tried to ask the former commissioners and were simply forgotten. We’re not going to help but fight that. “
About 70 miles south of Nahata Dziil, along Interstate 40, is Holbrook, the gateway to the petrified forest. On its main streets are giant dinosaur sculptures and multicolored petrified wooden courtyards.
On the other side of a bridge over the Little Colorado River, bulbous hill formations disappear into flat plateaus. The striking nuances that encouraged Spanish explorers to call the domain “El Desierto Pintado” or “El Desierto Pintado” minged with weeds, some agricultural crops. fields and pond on the edge of the small town of Snowflake.
Kevin and Debbie Gibson were hoping to retreat quietly. They bought land and began living off the grid about nine years ago, opting for dominance because of its freshwater aquifers and abundant sunlight. grow your own food.
Others are there for the same reasons. People with chronic diseases wanted in an isolated and non-industrialized place. Earth’s environmentalists have built self-sufficient earthships. There are also ranches. Most have shallow water wells to drink.
So when the Gibsons found out about helium drilling in the area, they worried. Kevin had worked as an engineer for oil corporations during his career and knew the possible consequences.
“When my wife read an article that said the Bureau of Land Management was renting for hydraulic fracturing about five miles north of us, I couldn’t keep quiet,” she said. “My global is in danger just like everyone else’s. “
They discovered that the domain in which they lived contained some of the richest helium deposits in the world. The Holbrook Basin, which also includes Nahata Dziil, is a geological domain in northern Arizona that has helium fuel concentrations of up to 8% to 10%. , compared to the industry benchmark of 0. 3% to 1%.
The controversy erupted in September 2018, when the BLM auctioned 3,000 acres near Petrified Forest National Park to a Canadian power company called Desert Mountain Energy, which planned to drill helium.
The Center for Biological Diversity, a Tucson-based conservation group, sued a short time later, alleging that the company had violated federal law by not conducting further environmental reviews or consulting with local tribes. The BLM had stated that a 1988 resource control plan met its requirements. legal obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act. Last year, rents were suspended after the trial.
But local considerations peaked when citizens learned that the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality had issued an aquifer coverage permit to Ranger Development in 2017, allowing the company to use “acid stimulation,” a form of hydraulic fracturing, in up to 80 helium wells. in the Nahata Dziil area. The citizens of Holbrook feared that the company would drill closer to them afterwards.
A handful of locals shaped the No Fracking AZ organization, which the Gibsons have joined. But when they learned that the band didn’t need to get into politics, they shaped their own: Protect Our Water AZ.
“I’m a mine engineer, so I’m against mining,” Gibson said, “but we want to think about the charge of extracting those resources, especially in the case of water in Arizona. “
The Coconino Aquifer is the main source of water for the rural villages of the Holbrook Basin. Flagstaff also relies on groundwater. The aquifer has already spread due to drought and overuse; Kevin Gibson says adding the threat of drilling contamination is valuable, who and his wife Debbie met with U. S. Rep. Tom O’Halleran, a Democrat for Arizona, and former state-owned setter Sylvia Allen, among others, to express their point of view.
Because it is such a vital water resource, the Coconino aquifer has been well studied, said Steve Rauzi, a retired geologist in the Arizona Geological Survey, from much of the literature on oil and fuel customers in the Holbrook Basin and elsewhere in Arizona. The underground formations where helium was discovered are basically salobre water, he said.
“If you pierce helium, you only pass the most sensitive ones in Coconino,” Rauzi said. “It’s a valid concern, but I don’t think it has such a big effect on groundwater in general. intensity of drilling, no one happens to worry about water there. It’s too salty to begin with.
Most of the water wells in the domain are between 300 and 800 feet deep, however, helium is lower. Businesses sometimes do not pass more than 2,000 feet, some allow to specify depths of up to 4,000 feet. on the Arizona Oil and Gas Conservation Commission website.
‘The undeniable answer is that helium corporations pass under spaces where other people get water and produce fuel from spaces that are not usable aquifers because there are many dissolved solids in the water,’ said Kurt Constenius, a geologist who works for a number of helium exploration companies. Array adding Ranger, which is the only company actively generating fuel in the Holbrook Basin.
The sandstone composition of much of the Little Colorado plateau, which includes the Coconino aquifer, would not require the upper point of pressure, volume and toxic drilling fluids used in combustible shale formations in places like Texas, said Kristine Uhlman, a retired hydrogeologist. who has worked extensively in Arizona and has worked with the University of Texas at Austin to examine the effect of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater. At this stage, maximum corporations only use air or water to drill.
Confusion between large-scale fractures and acid stimulation is inaccurate, Uhlman said.
“If there’s a threat of shallow aquifer contamination, it would be if someone hits their truck and spills their gas or something,” he said.
Hydraulic fracturing in states like Texas uses millions of gallons of water and chemicals injected thousands of feet underground and then diverted by miles horizontally. This requires dozens of giant trucks and drilling rigs. Studies have shown that the procedure can damage groundwater sources and even cause earthquakes. , the oil and fuel industry denies these ties.
In contrast, acid stimulation uses much less fluid and is injected at much lower pressures and volumes, Uhlman said. Any remaining fluid is neutralized through geological formation or returned to the surface to remove it once helium is extracted, he said.
The procedure is much shorter and on a smaller scale. The drilling rig is fixed on a single truck, Constenius said.
“There are overlaps with any of the strategies in the sense that fluids are placed in a well and then there are possible chemical reactions,” he says. “Then, in the simplest way, they are very similar. But with hydraulic fracturing, which is a genuine problem, it’s a process, for the Holbrook Basin, either in scale and method, which is absolutely different. “
Helium itself is a non-toxic, non-combustible fuel that bureaucracies deep in the Earth’s mantle due to the breakdown of radioactive tissues such as uranium. In this region, it is basically discovered with nitrogen, some other non-toxic fuel.
Most helium escapes from Earth into the atmosphere, but in some places, such as the Holbrook Basin, it gets trapped in salt domes or other geological formations, such as a bubble-leveling device. a well of water in the maximum cases.
“Helium rises from within the Earth all over the planet,” Uhlman said. “It happens in your garden. He’s fainting on the football field. It comes out normally. And the only explanation for why you need The Drill is if it was stuck under a layer. This fuel needs to pass up and does not move horizontally, it simply passes up and bureaucracy a pool. You put a traditional well in it and you have your helium.
In other parts of the state, such as the Four Corners region and the lesser-known spaces of the Coconino aquifer, the threat is another and depends on the express geological structures in which drilling takes place, Rauzi said. , the most part is to make sure corporations pipe or properly cover their wells, he said.
The chemical composition of the acids used for drilling is unique, reinforcing the skepticism of the inhabitants. Ranger refused to supply main points of the volume and type of acid it uses. A company operating in the Four Corners domain of the Navajo Nation, Tácito LLC, used nitrogen and soap foam to stimulate oil wells that were switched to helium.
A spokesman for Desert Mountain Energy, a Canadian drilling company in the area, said that if the company ended up with acid to stimulate one of its wells, its first selection would be citric acid, followed by hydrochloric acid, which is commonly used in swimming pools. So far, he’s only used air to drill, he said.
Last year, Flagstaff filed a restraining order opposed to the corporation to block drilling on leased land in a state that accepts as true that it is less than a mile and a portion of Red Gap Ranch, which the city purchased to access Coconino Aquifer and be safe. your long-term groundwater supply.
The city declined to comment, which raised an ongoing dispute.
“Honestly, I think acid stimulation will be used in several wells,” Constenius said. “The well where the procedure was carried out produced the correct results. So, it’s not just once. “
Will it pave the way for deeper drilling or the search for other resources?Constenius doesn’t believe it.
“As far as prospective oil studies are concerned, there is almost a 0 chance that there will be oil discovered in the Holbrook Basin,” Constenius said. “Another way of saying that is that large oil corporations passed through Arizona in the 1960s and drilled wells and it was a cemetery. I think the concept that suddenly Arizona will be West Texas won’t happen.
The Arizona Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulates oil and fuel extraction in the state. Companies must download a drilling permit, as well as authorizations from government agencies, depending on whether they operate on personal lands, state-controlled land, the Navajo Nation, or public lands.
Companies must submit detailed plans to the commission describing the design of their wells and their drilling and testing processes. During drilling, the commission asks corporations to submit weekly reports of their operations and conduct inspections in case of complaints, Frank Thorwald said. chairman of the commission.
With growing interest in helium, the State Commission has been working with the Interstate Commission of the Oil and Gas Pact, which supports member states, the most productive regulations and practices. The state sought to ensure that Arizona’s regulations and regulations were consistent with those of other states that have a similar production point, Thorwald said.
As a result of this work, the State Commission plans to send regulatory updates to Gov. Doug Ducey for approval this summer. There have been some adjustments besides language clarification, Thorwald said. the licensing procedure is more available to the public, he said.
The oil and fuel commission does not require normal well ions, but it would make it a place if a credible complaint is received, Thorwald said.
If a company is considering using acid stimulation, it will need to download a permit to protect ADEQ AQUIfers, a procedure that can take a year or more. they will close drilling in the event of bankruptcy, hydrogeological studies on groundwater quality and the express generation that the company will use to save you escapes or spills, according to ADEQ spokesman Caroline Oppleman.
Companies must also provide ADEQ with a list of fluid types and volumes that would be used to perform acid stimulation, Oppleman said.
Once a permit is approved, the firm requests regular company reports and performs inspections or more if there are complaints, Oppleman said.
“ADEQ does not anticipate any negative effect on groundwater by stimulating wells related to helium fuel extraction activities,” Oppleman wrote in response to questions emailed through The Republic. the design and functioning of site-specific stimulation and geological conditions, all of which contributes to containing the movement of the stimulation of injected fluids».
For locals like the Gibsons and others in their camp, the procedure looks like a fox guarding a cooperative.
“Some other people say, “Oh, it’s going to be diluted, ” but how many times have you said that about the ingredients and discovered that only a few molecules are harmful to a human being?” says Gibson. If we did this in the middle of the desert without a water source and without other people, then I’d say go. In the end, they do it over the Coconino aquifer. “
However, there is unlikely to be a sudden boom in production. There are fewer than a dozen corporations with active drilling rentals in the state, usually small businesses. Only Ranger Development and Prize Energy, founded in Texas, have won ADEQ aquifer coverage. Ranger remains the only company that actively generates helium in the state.
Interest remains constant. Texas oil giant Halliburton recently met with the helium commission. Kinder Morgan has a giant lease near St. Johns, where he had won a permit for the aquifer to perform hydraulic fracturing to extract carbon dioxide. The company refused to respond to The Republic about its long-term plans.
Some corporations seem less interested in helium extraction, but seek to capitalize on enthusiasm around Arizona’s helium deposits.
Rare Earth Exploration, a Texas-based company, won a drilling of the Oil and Gas Commission in April 2019. It also has active rentals with the Arizona State Department of Land. In November of that year, a Texas State Securities and Exchange Board commissioner filed an emergency order opposed to corporate for fraudulent accusations aimed at attracting investors.
Some industry experts have also heard rumors about companies, but no legal action has been taken to date.
“The Holbrook Basin is like the Wild West,” Constenius said. “There are pro companies. And then there are the nasty companies, what I call promoters, where they are other people who fly under the helium hype.
The U. S. helium market began to expand before World War II, when helium was discovered in Texas and Kansas. The government temporarily identified the importance of fuel and established a federal reserve, offering taxpayer-funded incentives to oil and fuel companies to extract the helium they needed. The Federal Helio Reserve, located on the outskirts of Amarillo, Texas, evolved into 1973, when it became clear that the amount of helium supplied exceeded demand.
As a result, in 1996, Congress passed the Helio Privatization Act, assigning the Bureau of Land Management to administer the reserve. The law required the firm to sell crude helium to distributors and stop operations this year.
Partly due to the depletion of the reserve, in 2018, the United States experienced a shortage of helium, which caused an increase in helium prices. The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced demand, however, economists and companies say the closure of the Federal Reserve of Helium. and declining production in the Kansas and Texas fields are making discoveries in Arizona a seductive gamble.
One thing is for sure: the need for helium will soon disappear. Approximately 30% of helium used in the United States in 2019 has been used for MRIs in medical settings. The analysis and laboratory programs accounted for 14% and technical and clinical programs. 6% programs, according to the U. S. Geological Survey.
Most helium comes from the United States and Qatar. The United States, which has traditionally fed on about 40% of the world’s helium, imports much of the fuel from the small Middle Eastern country. Algeria also has a really extensive supply.
Until the reserve was liquidated, the United States provided about 30-40% of the world’s helium, but that figure fell to about 15-20%. It imports the most of its helium in much of Qatar and Russia, said Jason Demers, the founder. of the helium company Tacitus LLC, which operates in New Mexico in the Navajo Nation.
“I think this leaves the United States in a scenario where they don’t need to rely on Russia, Qatar and Algeria,” Demers said.
Recent discoveries in Russia and Tanzania can still replace the market. Companies see a strategic interest in the US’s in the middle of its allies. But it’s not the first time Keep your own strong national offering, that is, in a market that can replace drastically overnight.
In 2017, for example, Saudi Arabia broke ties with Qatar, with the accidental effect that Qatar stopped its helium production, causing a global helium shortage.
“There has been a higher point of inconsistency in terms of source,” said Janie Chermak, a professor of economics at the University of New Mexico who specializes in herbal resources. “Then, if you had a source in position and a consistent source, you would stabilize prices, which means you probably won’t see the spikes you’ve noticed in the afterlife and you won’t see scarcity.
When helium was controlled through government, costs were in the order of $60 consistent with thousands of cubic feet. Currently, the market is asking for between $200 and $400 consistent with thousands of cubic feet, Demers said. This is mis-place for many educational studies, institutes.
“There’s no more helium at $60 in the world,” Demers said. “Therefore, helium has a very, very expensive product for users who do not have the resources to pay for it and, therefore, expanding the national source is something we focus on. “‘
Building infrastructure around the helium source chain will be a piece of the puzzle, Chermak said.
“If helium can be produced at a value that makes it competitive with the resources we have, and if it can be done in a way that protects the environment, it has potential,” Chermak said. “Because all I don’t see is that the helium call disappears. “
Some say that developing interest in helium in Arizona can simply lead to an economic improvement for the Navajo Nation in particular, which faces sharp gain falls with the closure of coal-fired power plants.
“I think if there are large numbers that are theorized, then it may have a broader political implication for the Navajo Nation,” said Carl Slater, a delegate to the Navajo Nation Council representing Lukachukai, Rock Point, Round Rock, Tsaile. Chapters Wheatfields and Tsé Ch”zh. He is also vice president of the board’s health, schooling and human facilities committee.
“If you compare an energy resource that contributes to climate change, with a resource used in medical technology, cooling MRI machines, generating semiconductors, all sorts of things that don’t necessarily load on the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, then that ends up having another net effect,” Slater said. “The vital thing is to make sure that it does not damage the environment and that of our other people so that we can continue to live at home in our classic way.
Slater has worked hard with his constituents and helium company Tacitus LLC to expand what he sees as a fair solution for drilling. Among other things, the law he drafted establishes royalties and invoices corresponding to a percentage of the company’s earnings for the tribe and the premises. It also establishes a networked reinvestment fund. Legislation blocked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The procedure of my idea was, let’s start having this verbal exchange now because a lot of production comes and if we don’t have the verbal exchange now, then we’ll feel in a corner to get into it later, probably in worse condition,” Slater said. “And, you know, we want to be started in fluency as leadership to talk about this resource, which we’d like to do with it. “
Although he prefers no extraction of resources in the Navajo Nation, he believes that making an investment in helium can give the tribe more political influence, but at each and every level of the negotiations, prices and benefits will have to be conscientious. heavy, he said.
“Overall, the history of resource extraction in Navajo is pretty horrible, so if you start with this premise, be suspicious of any kind of extraction,” Slater said. “That said, as a leader, I look at income that is two-thirds of what our government has supported for over the more than 10 years. “
He said a balance can be struck between helium extraction and the way of life of the Navajo if communication is above the board and the board addresses problems strategically from the beginning. essential, he said.
“I tried to tilt the non-unusual floor in favor of the Navajo Nation and its citizens,” Slater said. “We have to start having the conversation, because if it happens only in the shadows, then we have a very bad business, get poor decision-making, there is no duty that deserves to be there. “
He believes that the agreement with Tacitus can serve as an example of how to handle helium extraction well in the Navajo Nation. The company has been drilling in the Little Water network near Sanostee, New Mexico, since 2018. corporate communication prioritized communication with the network, outside the doors of required approvals from the Local Government, the Navajo Nation’s Natural Resources Division and the council.
So far, Tácito has paid the country more than a million dollars, the maximum in the last 12 months, when the trade transfer, Demers said.
The corporate has also contributed more than $100,000 in investments to the Little Water network, adding the structure and maintenance of roads, the structure of water resources for livestock, the arrangement of a windmill and the provision of a backhoe to the network that bury those who died of COVID-19.
“I think it’s about communicating. You have a tendency to feel more comfortable with what your neighbor is building in his garden if he tells you that if he does it in the dark of night,” Demers said. “It’s an investment to make, set up city halls and meet other people and show them what you’re doing. And you can do it right away and save yourself a lot of headaches, or you can spend a lot of cash to fight the record. “
Tácito has been selling about 1. 5 million cubic helium on a monthly basis to a domestic buyer, Demers said.
“Honestly, the Navajo Nation will be a key player in America’s power transition to helium,” Demers said. “America is in a position where there will have to be an additional national source to succeed at a point of balance and self-control. And so, by bringing this in for a landing, that’s where the Navajo Nation can expand enough helium resources to help manage the scarcity of sources in the United States.
Erin Stone has written about The Arizona Republic and azcentral. com. Contact her on Twitter – Erstone7.
Environmental in azcentral. com and the Republic of Arizona is supported by a Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust grant. Follow The Republic’s environmental reporting team on environment. azcentral. com and @azcenvironment on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.