A pending settlement of a lawsuit over energy development on a national wildlife refuge in south-central Colorado could keep the area off-limits to drilling, a group that sued said Monday.
The agreement among the federal government, environmental groups and Toronto-based Lexam Explorations Inc. would scuttle the 2007 approval of the company’s drilling plans and initiate a new environmental review.
Meanwhile, the environmental groups continue to meet with private and public agencies to gain support for buying Lexam’s mineral rights on the Baca National Wildlife Refuge in the San Luis Valley, about 200 miles southwest of Denver.
Lexam vice president Stefan Spears said the company would want to recoup its investment of about $8.5 million. He said the environmental groups missed a deadline for coming up with the money, but the company would review offers.
Rather than see a new environmental review done, the hope is to buy out Lexam, said Christine Canaly of the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council.
She said her group has met with public officials about funding and that the agreement, which could be approved soon, will make those discussions easier because of more certainty.
A 2007 lawsuit by environmental groups accused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of violating federal environmental laws when it found the drilling wouldn’t significantly affect the refuge and approved Lexam’s plan to drill for oil and gas.
A federal judge granted the conservation groups a preliminary injunction last year, blocking the drilling while the lawsuit continued.
The company acquired its mineral rights in the 1990s, before the former Baca Ranch was bought by the federal government for a wildlife refuge.
The minerals extend to the adjacent Great Sand Dunes National Park and national forest land. The national park was created by a combination of private and public funds.
