US ruling on Western gas leases may spur lawsuits
Date: 02-May-02
Country: USA
Author: Christopher Doering
The decision by the Interior Department's board of land appeals could threaten thousands of similar coalbed methane leasing projects that had similarly lax reviews, according to environmental groups.
Coalbed methane is a form of natural gas trapped beneath coal reserves and held in place by water pressure. Environmental groups contend that when the gas is removed, sodium in the water flows into streams, harming cattle and local residents.
The administrative ruling, released last Friday, found that three leases issued by the Bureau of Land Management during the Clinton administration were illegal because they did not conduct sufficient environmental analysis.
Much of coalbed methane development is in the Powder River Basin in northeast Wyoming that could contain as much as 30 trillion cubic feet of recoverable reserves of natural gas. The United States consumes about 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas a year.
Environmentalists applauded Interior's decision as it potentially gave them ammunition to block the use of similar leases, because, they say, other leases also did not have sufficient environmental impact studies. It "sets a precedent because there is no difference with other existing leases in Powder River Basin," said Tom Darin, a lawyer with the Wyoming Outdoor Council.
"Someone could file a lawsuit to go after every single lease in Powder River Basin which would stop the project in its tracks and tie it up in court," he added.
Darin said Wyoming Outdoor Council and other groups are willing to negotiate with the Bush administration to improve the environmental plan, but said without significant modifications, further court challenges are likely.
The Wyoming Outdoor Council and the Powder River Basin Resource Council filed an appeal two years ago saying three leases issued in 2,500 acres of basin land did not comply with tough environmental analyses required under the National Environmental Policy Act.
A Department of Interior spokesman said the Bush administration is currently undergoing its own environmental review plan with several agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The study is expected to be completed by November.
"The previous administration failed to do their homework on those leases," said Mark Pfeifle, press secretary at the Department of Interior.
The Environmental Protection Agency warned last week that the BLM's environmental impact study was seriously flawed. The government's environmental analysis of the three coalbed methane leases in the Powder River Basin used decades-old environmental data that failed to address the impact of coal bed methane extraction.
Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency, Interior Department and other agencies were meeting this week to discuss the environmental issues.
