BLM delays draft EIS on Colorado’s Roan Plateau
The Associated Press
An eagerly awaited draft environmental impact statement detailing how much oil and gas drilling is envisioned on Colorado’s Roan Plateau has been delayed until December at the earliest.
“We don’t have a release date,” said Steve Bennett, an assistant field manager for the Bureau of Land Management.
“But it definitely won’t be November.”
The plateau is a key site in the Bush administration’s effort to open more of the Rocky Mountains to energy development. It sits on an estimated 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in one section alone, making it one of the most sought-after reserves in the West.
About 5.5 trillion cubic feet of that gas is considered recoverable and has an estimated worth of $22 billion.
Bennett said an air-quality study is delaying the draft plan, which will cover a 73,000-acre area that includes the 43,000-acre plateau itself 150 miles west of Denver.
Numerous gas wells have been drilled at its base and some wells atop the 3,000-foot-high plateau are already producing gas.
The question of wilderness is likely to be thorny as the plan is debated. Citizen groups say 38,000 acres of the plateau should be protected as wilderness, which would prohibit development and mechanized recreation. A BLM study identified 22,000 acres with wilderness potential.
Interior Secretary Gale Norton said in April the department won’t consider potential wilderness identified after 1996 — making it possible there will be no wilderness in the area at all.
Environmentalists urged the government to take more time on putting the draft together.
Garfield County municipalities from Carbondale to Rifle have passed resolutions opposing drilling on the plateau. The BLM will take public comment on the draft plan for 90 days.
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