SALT LAKE CITY—A federal judge is questioning Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s justification for canceling 77 drilling leases sold by the Bush administration around national parks in Utah.
A U.S. Justice Department lawyer maintained Salazar had good reasons to cancel the leases at a two-hour hearing on the matter Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
U.S. District Judge Dee Benson didn’t indicate how he will rule on a lawsuit brought by energy companies and three Utah counties over the leases.
Salazar has said he voided the leases because they were at the doorstep to Utah’s redrock parks.
But the energy producers say none of their parcels was closer than 15 miles to a national park. They say some of the parcels had long been available for leasing and were next to operating oil or gas wells.
