BLM Moab to prepare environmental assessment on oil and gas lease sale
Aug 23, 2012 | 2291 views | 0 0 comments | 12 12 recommendations | email to a friend | print
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Moab Field Office announced last week that it received multiple comments during the scoping period for a proposed February 2013 oil and gas lease sale. The scoping period ended August 13. 

“[The BLM] would like to thank everyone,” officials said in a news release. “There were multiple comments submitted and the BLM is grateful for the public’s participation in our planning efforts.”

The recent scoping effort was to identify issues to be analyzed and considered in the upcoming environmental assessment on the proposed lease sale. BLM officials said the primary public concerns that were expressed were related to “the adequacy of the time to review and comment on the proposed lease sale and environmental assessment,” and “water quality, specifically groundwater and hydraulic fracturing.” 

“The BLM will address concerns raised from external scoping, internal scoping and field reviews of the proposed lease parcels in our analysis within the environmental assessment,” officials said in the news release.  

Once the draft of the environmental assessment is completed, the public will have 30 days to comment on the study, according to the news release. The comment period is expected to begin in late September and continue through most of October, officials said. 

A description of the project and maps of the proposed lease parcels can be found on the Environmental Notification Bulletin Board at https://www.blm.gov/ut/enbb/index.php. Additional information is available at www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab or by calling the Moab field office at 435-259-2100.

Share This Article |

Copyright 2013 The Times-Independent. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

report abuse...

Express yourself:

We're glad to give readers a forum to express their points of view on issues important to this community. That forum is the “Letters to the Editor.” Letters to the editor may be submitted directly to The Times-Independent through this link and will be published in the print edition of the newspaper. All letters must be the original work of the letter writer – form letters will not be accepted. All letters must include the actual first and last name of the letter writer, the writer’s address, city and state and telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be accepted.

Letters may not exceed 400 words in length, must be regarding issues of general interest to the community, and may not include personal attacks, offensive language, ethnic or racial slurs, or attacks on personal or religious beliefs. Letters should focus on a single issue. Letters that proselytize or focus on theological debates will not be published. During political campaigns, The Times-Independent will not publish letters supporting or opposing any local candidate. Thank you letters are generally not accepted for publication unless the letter has a public purpose. Thank you letters dealing with private matters that compliment or complain about a business or individual will not be published. Nor will letters listing the names of individuals and/or businesses that supported a cause or event. Thank you letters about good Samaritan acts will be considered at the discretion of the newspaper.