For Immediate Release
September 16, 2024
Contact:
- Maria Katherman, Powder River Basin Resource Council, (307) 359-8604, redjacket12@hotmail.com
- Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, (307) 399-7910, emolvar@westernwatersheds.org
- Sarah Stellberg, Advocates for the West, (208) 342-7024 x 209, sstellberg@advocateswest.org
Court ruling halts 5,000-well oil and gas drilling project in eastern Wyoming
Conservation groups hail the decision as a victory for wildlife and residents
WASHINGTON — A federal District Court has ruled that the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of the 5,000-well Converse County Oil and Gas Project in eastern Wyoming was illegal because the agency’s groundwater modeling contained major errors and grossly underestimated the depletion of groundwater by the massive oil and gas project. Drilling in this area has also already had a major negative impact on local communities including impacts to lands, air, wildlife, and water.
“Responsible production of oil and gas in Wyoming should not be a race,” said Maria Katherman, a Board Member with Powder River Basin Resource Council and Douglas resident. “Best practices by the industry include properly planning for treatment of produced water and protections of groundwater in Converse County.”
The lawsuit also raised legal violations around the agency’s failure to require air quality mitigation measures, analyze cumulative climate change impacts, consider pacing project development to moderate impacts, and require customary seasonal protections to prevent disturbance of nesting birds of prey. Because the project was found to be illegal based on groundwater claims, the judge’s ruling did not reach these issues.
“This project gave the oil industry a blank check to exponentially increase the footprint of industrial oil and gas fields in this part of eastern Wyoming, at the expense of rare and dwindling populations of sage grouse, hawks, and eagles,” said Erik Molvar, Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project. “With the judge finding this massive oil and gas drilling approval illegal due to faulty groundwater estimates, the wildlife are getting a much-needed reprieve.”
The Converse County project encompasses sage grouse Priority Habitats designated under federal sage grouse plans, including the Douglas Core Area, where the combined effects of past drilling and other forms of habitat disturbance already exceeded allowable disturbance thresholds under the federal sage grouse plans. There is presently a plan amendment underway, and the Bureau of Land Management’s preferred alternative would cave in to state demands and abolish the Douglas Core Area, paving the way for further oil and gas development in an area with a dwindling sage grouse population.
The court also blocked the approval of additional drilling permits in reliance on the flawed Environmental Impact Statement while the final remedy is being decided.
“We hope BLM will take this opportunity to get its analysis right and adequately protect Converse County’s water, air, and wildlife from this massive drilling project,” said Sarah Stellberg, Staff Attorney at Advocates for the West, whose team of attorneys delivered the winning arguments. “We are pleased the court made the sensible decision to block BLM from issuing new drilling permits based on a significantly flawed assessment of impacts.”
“It is entirely appropriate to temporarily pause approval of new drilling permits until the short comings in the EIS are addressed and real-world remedies are lined out by the companies involved,” said Katherman. “We hope that slowing this boom will also allow for proper seasonal protections for wildlife, especially in light of the massive wildfire that burned through this summer, and allow nearby communities time to prepare.”
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