CHEYENNE, Wyo.—An oil and gas industry group has appealed a ruling from a federal judge over oil and gas leases, saying it did not do enough to make sure the U.S. Department of Interior must issue the leases within 60 days after they’re sold.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal ruled in June that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management needed to decide whether or not to issue an oil or gas lease within 60 days of auctioning it off. The lawsuit followed years of delays in issuing hundreds of leases in the West amid protests filed by environmental groups.
Although the industry group said the ruling was a “partial victory,” Kathleen Sgamma with the Western Energy Alliance claimed the BLM responded by asking companies to continue to wait indefinitely and then denying the leases when they wouldn’t agree.
“Our victory quickly degenerated into the status quo,” Sgamma said.
The group filed the appeal last week, the Casper Star-Tribune reported ( ). A BLM spokeswoman declined to comment.
Lisa McGee, an attorney for the Wyoming Outdoor Council, which intervened in the case on the side of the BLM, called Western Energy Alliance’s position an “extreme interpretation” of the Mineral Leasing Act.
“That would undercut the ability of citizens and conservation groups to raise concerns about those parcels,” she said.
Freudenthal’s ruling gave certainty to the industry by reinforcing the 60-day deadline but still allowed the BLM to consider concerns, McGee said.
“If their interpretation is taken to its logical conclusion, it would divest the BLM with the authority to weigh both impacts to public lands and to maintain a leasing program,” McGee said.
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Information from: Casper Star-Tribune – Casper,
