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In 2017, Texas-native, ex-marine and disabled veteran Joshua Pollard secured 10,000 acres of leased land between Joseph City and the Petrified Forest approximately a half of a mile north of Interstate 40 that contain helium gas. Pollard, who is also the founder and CEO of Pollard Helium is currently testing with one constructed well. Pollard explained that the world’s demand for the gas and its discovery here could mean many jobs for the area once proper permitting is obtained.
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According to Pollard, because the State of Arizona doesn’t typically deal with gas, guidelines and requirements for permitting for a project like Pollard’s is unfamiliar area and therefore has caused a delay in the time it takes to retrieve a permit and begin operations.
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Though Pollard Helium plans to drill hundreds of wells to extract the high-quality gas, Pollard explained that other legal factors have contributed to the delay due to Arizona’s laws that protect geological or historical landmarks. Pollard said there could be extreme legal ramifications if they were to disturb such areas. He attributes that and gas permitting in Arizona being so new as to why there is currently only one well that has been permitted and constructed with three in the process of being permitted.
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According to the CEO, he attended a meeting in Taylor where Navajo County officials, Senator Sylvia Allen and two other helium companies potentially moving to the area gathered to discuss ways to accelerate the process.
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According to Pollard, state and county officials are working to streamline the requirements for the new-to-Arizona industry to help minimize the time it takes to obtain permitting. Adding that the average time it takes to complete the permit process is anywhere from three to six months. “I think it’s great that state officials are jumping in and trying to solve these issues,” said Pollard.
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Aware of the potential economic growth the company could bring to Holbrook and the surrounding areas by the new company, Pollard said his company recently increased the personnel in their land department responsible for evaluating locations to prepare for permitting to aide in speeding up the process.
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“If we can get permitting quicker, then we can drill full time then we could actually train guys in Holbrook to do it and wouldn’t have to bring in guys from out of state. One thing that’s really nice about Holbrook is you’ve got a really skilled workforce,” said Pollard.
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Adding that a variety of jobs such as welders, receptionists, drillers and many others would become available to Navajo and Apache counties.
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When Pollard was asked if he thought this would be a starting point for other potential businesses with their sights on areas like Holbrook, Pollard said, “Oh yeah, there are a lot of companies looking at the Holbrook area but because of permitting, they’re not really jumping in.”
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Pollard stated that currently, they do contract as many local companies as possible such as Perkins Cinders out of Springerville, but there is not enough work to employ anyone on a consistent basis until a faster timeline can be established for permitting.
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