He orders negotiations with conservationists over Adobe Town plan
JEFF GEARINO Southwest Wyoming bureau | Posted: Saturday, January 14, 2006 12:00 am
News Tracker
* Last we knew: Kerr McGee and Veritas DGC Land Inc. proposed a three-dimensional seismic survey of the southern Red Desert encompassing about 130 square miles in south-central Wyoming.
* The latest: The Laramie-based Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and other conservation groups filed an appeal of the project, and an administrative court issued a "stay" of the project this week.
* What's next: The court ordered that settlement negotiations begin to find a solution acceptable to both the conservation groups and the oil and gas operators.
GREEN RIVER - A federal administrative appeals judge has halted an oil and gas seismic survey project proposed for the Adobe Town area of southwest Wyoming's Red Desert.
Conservation groups last year challenged the Bureau of Land Management's environmental documents for the Cherokee West 3D seismic survey proposed by Kerr McGee Corp. and Veritas DGC Land Inc.
The two companies want to search for pockets of natural gas in a 130-square-mile area in the southern Red Desert, including Kinney Rim and Powder Rim in Sweetwater County.
Receiver cables for the project were proposed to be laid across the Adobe Town wilderness study area as part of the project. The company planned to use 64,000-pound "thumper trucks" - which send seismic waves into the ground to help surveyors create a picture of what's under ground.
Officials said the halt will remain in effect until the case is settled or the Interior Board of Land Appeals issues a ruling on the merits of the challenge.
Conservationists involved in the appeal called the ruling an important decision for protecting pristine areas such as Adobe Town.
"We weren't going to stand idly by and allow formations of 32-ton heavy equipment to drive across some of the Red Desert's most pristine and sensitive landscapes when low-impact methods would do the job just as well," said Erik Molvar, a biologist with the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.
"Our goal in these settlement negotiations will be to achieve a project method that will provide strong protections for wildlife, wilderness qualities and fossil resources," Molvar said in a statement.
Veritas officials on Friday referred all calls to Kerr McGee officials. Kerr McGee officials did not return messages seeking comment.
Last fall, the conservation groups filed an appeal with the Interior Board of Land Appeals, which is an administrative court within the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The challenge alleged violations of the National Environmental Policy Act and said the BLM had failed to take a hard look at the impacts to fossils and sensitive wildlife species. The groups said the area is known worldwide for its fossils of ancient mammals from the Eocene period, covering dates between 57 million and 45 million years ago.
The appeal also said the agency did not conduct a required study of cumulative impacts to wildlife that use lands affected by the project and ignored their responsibility to consider lower-impact alternatives instead of the use of thumper trucks.
Biodiversity was joined in the challenge by the Wyoming Wilderness Association, the Colorado Environmental Coalition, Center of Native Ecosystems and the Wilderness Society.
Wyoming Wilderness Association Director Liz Howell called the Adobe Town area one of the most spectacular of the West's "unprotected" landscapes. "This decision is an important victory for the protection of Adobe Town," she said.
Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@trib.com.