It's not a complete shut down. More of a slow down. Bird "stips" is the deal. Raptor mating season starts and is followed by other bird stips from Nov. until June.
The "stips" are only on the BLM ground. Drilling can still be done on some private and state ground all yr. However, the majority of drilling to be done is on BLM land.
It's also a conveniant scenario for the gas companies. Currently- all lines are 100% full and there isn't a way to get more gas out of the Powder River Basin. There will be a 24" line in by 2009 that will take care of the transportation issues. Because of the issues- it's a buyers market for the gas during some parts of the yr.
Even with the bird stips in place- various work can still be done on the wells. Just not any drilling. I'll double check but I'm fairly sure that Big Cat should be able to test their product throughout the rest of the yr.
Anadarko is trying it out but they also have plans to put in water treatment facilities. (Evidently they aren't banking on Big Cat's product.) Anadarko is currently using a treatment facility (1 of several in the area) that cleans the water so well that they mix well water with it to get the purified water to "natural" levels. (Basically purifies it to a better level than the natural water).
Hope this helps and I apologize if I caused any confusion with the bird stips.
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