Suit: Wyoming Atlantic Rim Teetering on Disaster
Friday, June 22, 2007
Laramie, WY - The plan to drill thousands of coalbed methane wells on Wyoming's Atlantic Rim at the eastern edge of the Red Desert is going to court. It's a BLM plan that raised concerns from locals, as well as state and federal wildlife agencies because the quarter-million acres to be drilled are home to prized hunting territory, and wildlife habitat. Erik Molvar with the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance believes drilling has a place, but at a slower pace.
“The BLM shouldn't be committing the entire quarter-million acres of this area to drilling at one time, but instead, should be looking at phased development where only a tiny fraction is offered for full industrialization at any one time.”
Molvar says the goal is to have the BLM re-do the drilling plan and honor obligations to protect the area under previous agreements. The BLM has not commented on the suit.
The project promises to bring a lot of money to Wyoming, but he says that promise has been tarnished by the push and rush to drill.
“More and more people in Wyoming are starting to realize that the short-term benefits of an oil and gas drilling boom are far outweighed by the long-term scars that it leaves on our wildlife, on our land, and our communities.”
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