A consortium of environmental groups has
filed suit challenging the BLM’s decision to authorize drilling in
unroaded wilderness-caliber lands surrounding Desolation Canyon. Last June, Denver-based Gasco Energy gained
federal approval to develop nearly 1,300 wells over a 207,000-acre
project area in the southeast corner of the Uinta Basin where it
transitions to the Tavaputs Plateau. The dispute is not so much over the
amount of wells and associated infrastructure, but where this
development will occur and its potential to further degrade the basin’s
air quality. In a federal suit filed Friday in Salt Lake City, the Southern Utah
Wilderness Alliance and other groups say Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
botched the call in approving up to 215 wells on land proposed for
wilderness near the Green River’s most scenic, remote stretches. The BLM also approved drilling in the Pariette Wetlands and Nine Mile
Canyon areas of critical environmental concern. Nearly one-fifth of the
project area is roadless, according to the suit. A compromise proposal advanced by
conservationists called for 1,100 wells concentrated in areas that are
already developed and are less sensitive. But Interior chose to "put one
company’s profits above the protection of this world-class landscape,"
said SUWA’s Steve Bloch. Joining SUWA as plaintiffs are The Wilderness
Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club. Bloch conceded that the BLM did not authorize
drilling within Desolation Canyon proper, but sights, sounds and smells
of development will be apparent to river runners putting in at and
floating by Sand Wash...more
I thought the sight and sounds criteria was dropped by the Forest Service years ago - so more lands could be designated as wilderness. Now the enviros are using sight and sounds to promote wilderness?
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