The Blaine County Commission is considering updating its policies on road crossing permits for oil and gas exploration companies to bring it more in line with surrounding counties.
Commissioner Tracy Matli said he had begun some research by calling other counties that surround Blaine County and found there was a wide gap between what those county charge for a permit and what this county charges.
A road crossing permit is required when a company, usually oil or gas exploration businesses, want to run a hose or pipe down the right of way, through a ditch or culvert or the like to carry water to the site or to carry other liquids away from the drilling area. Boring under the highway also requires a permit, although the permitting process may be different.
Blaine County usually charges $1,500 for a permit. That charge has only been in effect a short time, raised from only $500.
By comparison, Matli said Major County charges $5,000 each time a vessel crosses through a culvert, no matter how many crossings there are on a project. Kingfisher County charges $250 per mile to allow the hose to run down a road or highway easement.
“Blaine is just way low,” Matli said, and noted he was hopeful he could put the matter on the commission agenda in the next few weeks.
As the meeting was winding to a close, the news came into Emergency Management Director Jim Shelton that both Dewey and Major counties had enacted a burn ban in response to the extreme fire danger the next few days pose.
The Oklahoma Forestry Service said in a release there will be a particularly dangerous fire threat brought on by wildland fuels raised to near perfect burn conditions by drought. The service said there is a high likelihood of both large fires and a high number of fires. It anticipates numerous fires between a few hundred acres and thousands of acres to ignite or reignite.