OCR Text |
Show THE ZEPHYR JUNE 1991 generated by the development Additional for the area. Oil & Gas Development in the Moab Area There Is currently a great deal of oil and gas exploration underway near Moab In a triangular area with comers near Hatch Point, the Knoll north of Island In the Sky and Little Canyon below Gold Bar Rim. Most of this activity Is on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (although the State of Utah has Issued one lease In Dead Horse Point State Park and may try to lease more of the Park In the future). Each exploration well may blossom Into a dozen or more development wells with pipelines, storage tanks, and pumps. Bighorn sheep habitat could be destroyed, and recreatlonlsts will be displaced by upgraded or new roads and the noise and sights of oil field work. ;S . The has declared that public comment until June 7 on an exploration well proposed by Coors Energy to be drilled at the head of Little Canyon about 4 miles northwest of Moab. The proposed environmental assessment (EA) which documents the potential Impacts of this proposal and considers alternatives will be available at the 3, on May 20 (after this Grand Resource Area office, 885 South Sand Flats Road, article Is written). BLM PAGE 25 It will allow The proposed oil and gas development may cause long lasting and far reaching environmental damage. Oil wells, new and upgraded roads, pipelines and pumps could spread across Hatch Point cover Big Flat and trail down Into Little Canyon. At this point not enough Information Is available to know what other areas may be roaded or drilled. The BLM should slow down and carefully consider the options. It should allow the public time to provide our comments before any decisions are made. The agency must worry more about bighorns and less about corporate profits. you are concerned you can write the BLM and ask to be put on the mailing list for environmental analysis documents prepared for oil and gas proposals In the Grand If you have questions about which proposals are Resource Area (give me a call at BLM want 30 days to comment on the environmental Tell the you occurring where). documents they prepare for the proposals you are concerned with and state why you are concerned about the particular proposals. Letters should be addressed to: If 259-54- 40 Brad Palmer 259-819- There are numerous problems with the proposed Coors Energy site. First, the well will be drilled In the Gold Bar unit of Representative Wayne Owens wilderness proposal. Second, Coors will construct a short piece of new road and upgrade 10.5 miles of dirt road to move drilling equipment from Highway 313 to the well site. The upgraded sections Include stretches used by mountain bikers and Jeepers to reach the Gemini Bridges. As a result, riders may lose the option of the Gemini Bridges trip when the now primitive road Is Improved and oil field traffic causes safety hazards. This stretch of road also runs through habitat for one of the last two healthy native bighorn herds In Utah. The BLM has said In planning documents elsewhere: Desert Bighorn sheep habitat could be the most seriously Impacted wildlife habitat affected by oil and gas leasing. This Is because Desert Bighorn are so Intolerant of human disturbance. Human activity, noise and other disturbance associated with exploration, development or production could force the bighorns to leave the area of disturbance. If this disturbance Is wide spread It could effectively eliminate bighorn sheep over a significant part of their already limited range. lines have already been proposed selsmo-gra-ph Grand Resource Area Manager P.O. Box M Moab, Utah 84532 that political pressures played a role In the BLMs refusal to allow public Involvement before the agency approved the Columbia well. There are good professional BLM staff people concerned about the damage these proposals will cause. They could use some public pressure from users to buck up their efforts to protect our natural resources, efforts that may run afoul of upper level BLM management The Columbia well situation has Indicated that those at the top of the agency may be more Interested In protecting the oil and gas Industrys profits than the publics Interest Let the BLM know If you think not all public lands should be zoned for Industrial use. We were told w Scott Groene Moab office of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance 1 The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has expressed serious concerns about the effect of the Coors proposal on the area bighorn herd. The Coors well Is but one of the several oil and gas proposals before the BLM. Columbia Oil and Gas has drilled one hole, east of Highway 313 north of the Knoll, which Is said by the company to be a "good well and capable of oil production. Columbia will next drill a hole near Dead Horse Point State Park. The BLM approved this well on May 13 without providing the public any opportunity to comment on the EA prepared by the agency, in spite of efforts by SUWA and others to participate In the decision making process. Instead, the BLM quietly Issued a decision without notice to the public. We were told of the BLM's actions four days after they occurred by a reporter from the High Country News. ) District refused to provide the public with a comment period because Columbia failed to start the project soon enough to complete work before contractual deadlines ran. The company told the BLM that It had to drill the well near Dead Horse State Park In time to move their drill rig to a third site In the area by July 19. So the BLM cut out any public comment period to speed things up. The BLM Moab If that second Columbia hole also shows production capability, then It Is likely that the area will go Into a development phase, which should trigger the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to document the direct and cumulative Impacts of full oil field development The EIS must also consider other leases In the area as well as future leasing. these oil and gas wells are developed, power and oil and gas lines will be run up onto the plateau north of Island In the Sky. New roads and drill rigs will be constructed (possibly 36 new wells In this area for Columbia alone), storage tanks will be placed, and as oil pressure drops, pumps will be Installed. It Is uncertain how much noise and light will be If i t A1 McLeod electrical contractor 259-709- 0 Moab FO Box 1423 NEXT TIME YOU 70 'fGROUMtYoUR K 5URC UCENJED HAYS TTEBJAGER it's-- APPROVED ElE'cTricaU BY A ConTRACTOR. .4 if f .( . ARE H TAuGivf TO MfT -- AIXI6MTC -- ibeyV teeumg S6Nf(MOffAL i 74 South Main o Moab, Utah o 259-SUB- S Jk |