Coos County has gas - a lot of gas, according to president of Methane Energy Corp., Steve Pappajohn.

More than 100 community residents gathered Monday night at the Hale Performing Arts Center, on the Southwestern Oregon Community College campus, to hear Pappajohn speak about discovering natural gas in Coos County. Many came to ask company representatives hard questions on the impact of natural gas production to the economy and the environment.

Unlike the shouting matches that characterized a meeting held at the North Bend Public Library about 10 days ago, on concerns about the proposed liquid natural gas facility on the North Spit, Monday's meeting on methane production was calm and orderly.

Pappajohn spoke for about an hour on methane production, how the gas is produced by coal and how it can be drawn up from coal beds deep under the earth. He also explained the geological characteristics of the “Coos County Basin,” and production methods MEC plans to use in order to help protect the environment.

Although Pappajohn said that MEC had discovered more than one trillion cubic feet of natural gas below Coos County, he admitted the company was just now trying to judge whether the gas could be feasibly produced from the coal. Even through there is a lot of it down there, it may not be economical to put in production wells and draw the gas out of the coal, he said.

Regardless of MEC's decision, the county is bound to benefit from that much potential gas, he added.

“Given the presence of natural gas in the county, the county as a whole is going to benefit in a big, big way,” Pappajohn said.

However, it was the question-and-answer period that many had waited for - and wait they did.

In stark contrast to the meeting on the proposed LNG facility, the audience waited patiently while previous questions were answered, rather than shouting contradictions and objections at whomever was speaking.

Ron Sadler, who characterized himself not as an opponent of the project, but as a concerned community member, asked Pappajohn about the affects of draining water from the coal beds and how this saltier water would be kept from contaminating streams and fresh water aquifers.

“We don't know about the quality of the water we might be bringing up, but we will be storing it until every drop can be properly disposed of,” Pappajohn said. The company discovered the coal beds below Coos County held a lot less water than most coal beds, and if the company went into production, would be bringing up less water than methane production in other regions, he added.

Sadler didn't seem convinced by Pappajohn's assurances that the company would use a “zero discharge policy,” for all water on production sites, and it would not be re-injected into the ground unless MEC followed strict regulations through the Department of Environmental Quality.

Pappajohn and other MEC employees answered questions about the way the methane wells will be engineered and how they will look once in production in a patient and respectful manner, taking the time to fully explain the answer to each question.

In response to a question about MEC's possible affect on the local economy and bringing more jobs to the region, Pappajohn said the company had already injected as much as several million dollars into the region.

Although the company employs only a few local people right now, the number could eventually grow to a few dozen jobs, he added.

“Coos County has a lot of the industrial stuff that we need. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of employment,” Pappajohn said.

Dorothy Swain, of Coos Bay, asked Pappajohn if the natural gas wells would continue to regenerate and could be pumped indefinitely.

David May, an exploratory engineer for MEC, replied that the methane would probably not regenerate, but the company was still trying to verify how much it could possibly get out.

“We have a very high quality, a very pure form, of gas. In some cases we have as much as 99 percent pure methane here in the coal beds of Coos County,” Pappajohn added.

Other community members raised concerns that Coos County in particular, and Oregon as a whole, doesn't have the regulations in place to oversee the methane drilling and production in a manner that would protect natural resources.

“In terms of how we operate on our sites, there are a long list of regulations set by Oregon statutes that we must follow,” Pappajohn said. “We are also covered by regulation by the DEQ and (the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries).”

Pappajohn praised Robert Houston with DOGAMI, Coos County officials, and others, for making frequent visits to the company's test well sites.

Although only one report on MEC was filed by Rueben Kretzschmar, DEQ natural resources specialist in Coos Bay, he said on Monday he had been to the sites “at least as many times as Bob (Houston) has.”

But MEC's answers didn't banish everyone's fears.

A concerned community member stood at the meeting on Monday and spoke candidly to Pappajohn and other MEC representatives, hope and fear clear in his message.

“Part of me is excited about this process. But there is a lump in my throat that you guys will be long gone and there will be some kind of long-term problems.”