Energy Development
Oil and Gas Drilling Links
Thompson Divide Coalition Release Video Plea About Drilling Threats
WRA is working with the Thompson Divide Coalition to protect a spectacular Colorado landscape from being devoured by oil and gas development. Federal agencies issues thousands of acres of leases when nobody was watching, and without asking how drilling could transform the rural character and habitat values of these headwaters streams and forested hillsides. These lands are worthy of legislative protection. Take a moment to watch the video.
WRA Hammers Categorical Exclusions, Gets Change From Feds
A loophole in federal permitting of oil and gas drilling operations, known as a categorical exlusion, is being closed due to pressure exherted by Western Resource Advocates and other conservation groups. Categorical exclusions allowed permits for drilling to be issued while sidestepping federal protocols that ensure safe drilling practices and shutting out public involvement. The BLM has now suspended the practice of issuing permits through this method.
The categorical exclusion loophole was opened by the 2005 Energy Policy Act (EPAct) to expedite drilling on federal property and on offshore leases. The General Accounting Office studied the use of this practice and found that use of this mechanism has been out of compliance with the law, and in certain cases it was used wantonly and abusively.
Thousands of drilling permits issued under categorical exclusion led to unhealthy air quality, devastated wildlife habitat, atmospheric haze that obsured visibility and other environmental damage. Areas near Farmington, New Mexico and Pinedale, Wyoming were among the most severely affected. The drilling permit for the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off the coast of Louisiana that caused what has become the largest oil spill in U.S. history was approved by way of a categorical exclusion. Read the letter to the BLM requesting that the agency suspend the use of CXs.
WRA Continues to Protect Special Places from Oil and Gas Leasing
In 2009, WRA worked to pull 216,134 acres of federal lands from BLM oil and gas auctions that are inappropriate for drilling activity. The acreage spared from leasing is a fraction of the acreage that has been leased by the BLM this year. Over 5.25 million acres of federal lands have been leased for oil and gas drilling in Colorado alone. Yet 70% of that currently leased acreage remains unused.
Parcels of federal land put up for lease auctions are not necessarily known to have any proven resources. These parcels are nominated for auctions by the companies wishing to bid on these lands.
WRA works to protect special places from lease auctions where drilling is incompatible with other resource values such as wildlife, critical watersheds, essential habitat for rare and endangered species, and to prevent fragmentation of critical migration corridors. Preserving these values are important to people too, and that preservation is important for economic, recreational, aesthetic and social reasons as well.
So far this year, WRA has intervened on lease auctions of the following special Colorado lands:
- One proposed lease parcel, totaling 907 acres in Moffat County. The parcel is located within the Slater Park Potential Conservation Area, adjacent to Black Mountain Inventoried Roadless Area, has significant riparian ecosystem and coldwater fishery values, including Colorado Cutthroat Trout habitat, is part of a significant deer and elk migration corridor, and is an elk summer concentration area.
- Eight proposed lease parcels near Chaco Culture National Historical Park, totaling 10,361 acres. These parcels are in close proximity to Chaco Canyon World Heritage Site and other areas rich in archeological sites that include ancient masonry dwellings, kivas, middens, and hearths. The area has cultural significance to the Hopi and other Pueblo tribes and is a top tourist attraction on the “Trail of the Ancients.”
- Eight proposed lease parcels in the South Park National Heritage area, totaling 12,892 acres, and one proposed lease parcel in the Duck Creek Area of Critical Environmental Concern, totaling 139 acres. At risk with these areas being leased are mountain plover breeding areas and habitat, fen and mire wetland ecosystems, migratory bird species, elk winter concentration area and severe winter range, mule deer winter concentration area and critical winter range, and habitat for endangered plants.
- Six proposed lease parcels in Rio Blanco County that could prove to to be beneficial habitat for nearby reintroduced populations of endangered black footed ferrets, totaling 1,913 acres.
- Thirty-five proposed lease parcels, totaling 45,832 acres in Montrose and San Miguel counties. Within this area is habitat for special status birds, including Gunnison Sage Grouse, Bald Eagle, and Mexican Spotted Owl,river otter habitat and rare riparian plant communities, including populations of the ladies tresses orchid. These lands are also adjacent to Lizard Head Wilderness Area.
- Eighty-three proposed lease parcels, totaling 144,090 acres in Rio Grande and Saguache counties. These lands contain habitat for reintroduced populations of Canada Lynx, important big game habitat for mule deer, elk, moose, and big horn sheep. The proposed parcels included portions the Deep Creek/Boot Mountain, Middle Alder, La Garita Wilderness, and Beaver Mountain, Tewsksberrry, and Bennet Mountain Inventoried Roadless Areas. Within the proposed lease area are also 16 archeological sites eligible for listing under the National Register of Historic Places.
"Rural Impact: What To Expect From the Gas Industry"
In a nation with a vast hunger for cheap energy, it can be difficlut to understand what the concerns are with gas drilling on public and private lands. This six part video series, "Rural Impact: What to Expect from the Gas Industry", clearly explains the many problems associated with a very dirty extraction process for what many Americans are led to believe is a very clean energy source.
Watch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
WRA Ensures Public Participation in the Face of Oil and Gas Development in Great Salt Lake
On behalf of Friends of Great Salt Lake and others, WRA brokered a settlement resolving a challenge to the leasing of 178,000 acres of the bed of Great Salt Lake for oil and gas development. Under the agreement, the vast majority of the parcels were withdrawn from leasing until the Division of State Lands revises its Great Salt Lake Mineral Leasing Plan. To decide whether to lease or not, State Lands will have to balance the protection of navigation, fish and wildlife habitat, aquatic beauty, public recreation, and water quality against the economic necessity or justification for the oil and gas development.
WRA is committed to protecting Great Salt Lake because it provides crucial habitat for 257 bird species. At least 33 species of shorebirds representing 2 to 5 million birds use Great Salt Lake annually. In addition, up to 5 million waterfowl migrate through the Lake each year, stopping along routes that take them as far away as Central and South America. Indeed, approximately 30 percent of the waterfowl migrating along the Pacific Flyway depend upon the Great Salt Lake wetlands. For these birds, the Lake provides a critical food supply, allowing them fuel up for the rest of their migrations, sometimes doubling their body weight before they leave.
Because the bed of Great Salt Lake is sovereign land, held in trust for the citizens of Utah, WRA argued that the State had failed to determine whether the leasing would jeopardize the public good. After long negotiations, the parties resolved the case in a settlement touted by both sides, in the editorial pages, and as a significant victory for anyone concerned about the Great Salt Lake and its complex and fragile ecosystem. The settlement suspends leases on more than 116,000 acres of Great Salt Lake and promises a complete analysis of the potential development impacts. Going forward, the public will be involved at every stage and will ultimately determine if any benefits from oil and gas development will outweigh costs to Great Salt Lake recreation and ecological values.
The conservation groups also reserved the right to challenge any development proposed for the remaining 55,000 acres of Great Salt Lake still subject to lease, and we will keep WRA members informed as this process evolves. For now, we are pleased that we have been able to suspend a large part of the proposed development and ensure public participation in protecting the Lake.
Oil and Gas Links
Drilling
- Drilling 101 - presentation explaining process of natural gas drilling
- Modern Shale Gas Development in the US: A Primer - 2009 federal document on current state of shale gas
- State Oil and Natural Gas Regulations Designed to Protect Water Resources - 2009 federal report
- Map of US Featuring Gas Compressor Stations and Pipelines
- Oil and Gas Industry Exemptions to Environmental Rules and Regulations
- Who Owns the West - documentation of extensive oil and gas lease holding in the West
- Oil and Gas Wells Drilled by County
- Baker Hughes rig count - industry authority on drilling activity
- Weekly Rotary Rig Counts - Nationally
- Map of US Featuring Number of Oil and Gas Producing Well in Each State
- NYMEX Natural Gas Futures Prices - trends of gas commodity trading prices, which spur or inhibit drilling activity
- Wood Mackenzie Oil and Gas Terms Glossary
- Intermountain Oil and Gas Best Management Practices Project
- Garfield County, CO Oil and Gas web links
- Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
- Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
Hydraulic Fracturing - "Fracing"
- Fracking 101 - explanation of the controversial practice of underground fracturing to release gas from tight deposits
- What is Hydraulic Fracturing? - graphic of fracing process
- Endocrine Disruption Enchange Natural Gas Section - monitors chemicals used in drilling and their effects
- List of 260 Chemicals Used in Fracking Fluid for Marcellus Shale - description start on page 128 of document
- Chemicals In WY drinking Water Could Be From Fracking - ProPublica article
Advocacy Regarding Drilling Issues
- "Look Before You Leap Off the Natural Gas Bridge: Lessons from the Rockies" Report
- Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP)
- Rio Grand County Oil and Gas Accountability Alliance
- Landman Report Card - website monitors unscrupulous activity by agnets that negotiate with landownsers for drilling rights
- Drilling Down: Protecting Western Communities from the Health and Environmental Effects of Oil and Gas Production
- Bluedaze: Drilling Reform for Texas - blog on Barnett shale gas drilling issues
Videos on Drilling
- "Drilling in the West" 2005 National Geographic feature article
- "Water Under Attack" - documentary film on Oil and Gas Drilling
- "Split Estate" - documentary film on Oil and Gas Drilling
- "What You Need to Know About Natural Gas Production" video by Endocrine Disruption Exchange
- Infrared Video of Leaking Natural Gas Infrastructure
- "Gasland - The Movie"
- PBS interview with "Gasland" director Josh Fox - a documentary film examining impacts of fracing across the country
