Wyoming ranchers, outfitter say seismic exploration hurt wells, deer hunting

Two south-central Wyoming ranchers and a hunting outfitter said seismic exploration on prime hunting land drove away deer, could harm water wells and hurt sage grouse protection. Ranchers Sharon Salisbury O’Toole and Patrick O’Toole complained to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in person in Casper on Tuesday, saying the exploration company, GRMR Oil & Gas LLC of Broomfield, Colo., didn’t file a big enough bond for their work. In seismic exploration, workers set off explosions and measure reflected sound waves to map underground geologic formations. But the commission, in its first hearing over new bonding requirements for seismic exploration, decided Tuesday in favor of the company, which was searching for oil and gas near Savery in the Little Snake River Valley near the Colorado border. The commission determined that the O’Tooles didn’t show sufficient evidence they were significantly economically hurt or that a higher bond was necessary. The O’Tooles, of the Ladder Livestock Co. LLC, disputed the $13,000 surety bond filed by GRMR Oil & Gas. The O’Tooles argued that the seismic work threatened artesian wells, decimated wildlife and income from hunting leases, and affected its measures to protect sage grouse, for which their company was contractually obligated under an agreement with the federal government...more