The BLM has decided to open up the Roan Plateau to oil and gas exploration, according to the Rocky Mountain News. From the article, "Federal land managers opened the door to drilling in one of Colorado's richest natural gas reserves Thursday, unveiling a compromise proposal that endeavors to reap the mineral riches under the Western Slope's Roan Plateau while protecting its wildlife and environment. The long-awaited proposal caps years of contentious debate among industry, green groups and numerous public agencies on how to go about extracting natural gas from underneath 115 square miles of federal land within the ecologically diverse plateau region north of Interstate 70, bookended by the small towns of Rifle and Parachute. The proposed 'resource management plan,' released by Bureau of Land Management and Colorado officials, comes with an array of conditions designed to limit the effect of drilling on wildlife and streams - even taking into consideration the views for drivers along I-70. A BLM spokesman described the proposal as 'one of the most restrictive BLM has written to date.' Even so, environmentalists and some politicians, including U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., expressed disappointment and anger that the plan will open up the top of the 9,000-foot plateau region to drilling...
"Under the BLM's preferred scenario, half of the plateau region would remain off limits to any drilling activity. Only small pockets of land - 350 acres - atop the plateau could be disturbed at any one time and wells would be clustered together on drill pads that would have to be at least one-half mile apart. In addition, BLM officials say development would be limited to higher ridges 'away from ecologically sensitive canyons and streams.' And, in an unusual twist, to better monitor and control disturbance atop the plateau only one company will be allowed to conduct all the work on behalf of all the leaseholders, the agency said. Leases will be available to any interested energy company but leaseholders will have to agree on a single firm to do the drilling and establish wells. Industry officials said they supported the efforts to protect the Roan's environment, but were critical of the components of the proposal they said would drag the drilling process out over decades, and reduce 'competitive interest' in acquiring leases to drill. Kathy Hall, Western Slope representative for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, said her first look at the plan shows 'a lot is unknown. It's a new process.' She questioned whether a single operator doing the work for all of the companies that eventually obtain leases would be practical...
"'This is not a perfect plan,' said Russell George, executive director of Colorado's Department of Natural Resources and a man known for his ability to build consensus. 'In government, our obligation is to balance things for all citizens to accommodate as many interests as possible.' George, who hails from Rifle, said he assigned 13 people from various divisions of the DNR to work on the plan with the BLM and locals in Garfield and Rio Blanco counties. He highlighted staged development 'one ridge top at a time,' clustering drilling facilities, setting aside more than 23,000 acres of wildlife security areas, forming a Parachute Creek Water Management Area to protect water resources and limiting development to one operator. Even with such restrictions, George said, officials believe industry can recover 90 percent of the natural gas under the plateau. That's important to energy advocates, who project that the nearly 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under the plateau could heat more than two million homes for 20 to 30 years in a time of rising natural gas demand and prices. Indeed, the Roan is estimated to be home to one-third of Colorado's natural gas reserves and represents more than 4 percent of the nation's 201 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves, according to figures provided by the BLM."
Here's the coverage from the Summit Daily News. They write, "The public has until Oct. 15 to submit protests to the plan, and Gov. Bill Owens has 60 days to review the plan to see whether it meets state law. The BLM received nearly 75,000 comments on a draft of the management plan. The agency oversees 73,602 acres of federal land on the 9,000-foot plateau, home to elk, deer, mountain lions, peregrine falcons, bears, native Colorado trout and other wildlife. Town and city officials in surrounding communities have opposed any drilling on top of the plateau. Gas wells already have been drilled on private land there."
Here's the coverage from the Denver Post. From the article, "The area has become a nationally watched battleground between those who would preserve its unusual ecosystem and those eager to tap into its rich reserve of an estimated 9 trillion cubic feet of gas."
"2008 pres"
5:42:56 AM 
|
|
