GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo.—Federal land managers are defending their plan for drilling on the Roan Plateau against claims that it violates environmental laws.
The Bureau of Land Management auctioned off energy leases covering 54,631 acres of public record on the western Colorado landmark for a record $114 million in August.
A lawsuit by 10 environmental groups claims the agency’s environmental analysis of the potential impacts of development was inadequate and asked a judge to block the leasing. The BLM responded in a court filing this week that its management plan includes several safeguards.
The Roan Plateau near Rifle is prized for its oil and natural gas deposits as well as its abundant wildlife and pristine backcountry. Environmentalists, hunters and anglers and some elected officials oppose drilling on the public land on top of the plateau.
There are gas wells on some of the private land on top of the Roan.
The environmental groups’ lawsuit claims the BLM didn’t analyze the long-term environmental impacts of its actions nor consider a reasonable range of alternative approaches. They argue the environmental analysis “ignores the vast majority of the oil and gas development that eventually will result from the (BLM’s) leasing decision” and ignores the possible air pollution that may result from natural gas development in the area.
Protests were filed on all 31 parcels put up for bid in August. The BLM won’t issue the leases until it makes decisions on the protests.
Federal officials disputed those claims in a response to the lawsuit filed Monday. They have said the plan contains several safeguards, including spacing well pads at least a half-mile apart, with “development to be constrained on existing roads and ridges on top of the plateau.”
The BLM’s 20-year management plan projects 193 well pads and 1,570 wells on the public land on the plateau over 20 years, including 13 pads and 210 wells on top. On top, drilling will done in stages and clusters to limit disturbance to 1 percent of the federal land at any time. Development would be focused on slopes with less than a 20 percent angle.
The BLM rejected a proposal by Gov. Bill Ritter to make more land off-limits to direct drilling.
Ritter also suggested issuing leases over several years rather than all at once. State officials have said that would increase what companies are willing to pay because the BLM plan calls for the development to occur in stages and companies are unlikely to pay as much for leases they can’t develop soon.
