GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—Bill Barrett Corp. is appealing a ruling setting aside a Bureau of Land Management plan for oil and gas leasing on the Roan Plateau.
The BLM had approved drilling in phases on public land on the plateau. After environmentalists sued, a federal judge ordered the BLM last year to re-examine its plan. She said the agency didn’t adequately explain why it didn’t consider an alternative that would’ve left the top of the plateau largely undisturbed, didn’t consider potential ozone impacts, and didn’t fully consider impacts on air quality.
The Daily Sentinel reports () that in documents filed recently in court, the company disagrees and contends the judge incorrectly interpreted the alternative as requiring directional drilling from the base. Barrett contends the alternative focused on deferring leasing on the plateau’s top.
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Information from: The Daily Sentinel,
