Anchorage Daily News

WASILLA -- Fowler Oil and Gas Corp. has the state permit that allows it to drill its first coal bed methane well in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

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Bob Fowler

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Seven months after Fowler applied, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approved a permit that only allows Fowler Oil and Gas to drill a single, exploratory "mother well" in a hay field off Trunk Road between Palmer and Wasilla. It's part of a large parcel owned by four farm families that stand to gain income if the well proves out.

It's unclear if Fowler needs additional permits from other agencies.

Methane drilling in the Mat-Su got a black eye in 2003, when Colorado's Evergreen Resources scooped up a swath of underground state leases, some beneath homes, which triggered fears of industrialized backyards and water pollution.

Fowler has promised to use drilling techniques that protect groundwater and come with a minimal footprint -- just a Colony-style barn and a small drilling pad.

The three state commissioners signed off on Fowler's drilling permit Thursday. They did so despite calls from some to reject Fowler's plans over worries about his financial past and potential environmental downsides of the drilling.

"We're limited in what we can do by what the statutes tell us is our charge," said commissioner Cathy Foerster, a former oil company engineer. "There's a good reason for that. We shouldn't be able to play god."

DELAYS

Fowler originally applied for state approval in October. A delay in approval resulted from a number of technical issues. For example, Fowler amended its application based on a change of drilling method it planned to employ, Foerster said.

Fowler chief executive Bob Fowler did not return calls for comment Friday morning. He has said he hoped to drill the well this spring.

Plans call for one main well on the surface with numerous sideways bores into underground coal seams in hopes of freeing trapped methane. Methane is the chief component in natural gas.

Fowler would need state permission for each horizontal well, Foerster said. "If the mother bore is promising, he'll be back to see us."

SOME CONCERNS

The company and Fowler, who grew up in Palmer, waged a number of public-image battles after gaining permission to drill in October from the Mat-Su Borough.

In February, company president Arlen Ehm, a longtime petroleum geologist in Alaska, resigned, saying he hadn't been paid.

The Daily News in April reported that Fowler filed for personal bankruptcy in July 2002 after he defaulted on a large loan and reported as well on his former company's involvement in a San Francisco corruption case. Fowler was never charged with a crime.

The oil and gas commission heard from people worried about Fowler's past, Foerster said. Concerns also arose about the fact he has never drilled for methane before, as well as the potential risks to drinking-water wells in the area.

"There was a lot of pressure from a lot of people looking to us to do things that were outside our authority," she said Friday.

Find Zaz Hollander online at adn.com/contact/zhollander or call her in Wasilla at 907-352-6711.

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