Nearly 300 Montana Oil And Gas Leases Halted As Judge Cites Water Concerns
Proposed oil and gas operations in the heart of the country that had received a green light from a federal agency will not go forward as planned after a court reacted to concerns over potential drinking water contamination.
“A U.S. judge … halted nearly 300 oil and gas leases on a large section of federal land in Montana that had been approved by an agency of the Interior Department and ordered the agency to conduct a thorough environmental analysis of the impact of fracking on drinking water,” Reuters reported. “District Court Judge Brian Morris said in his ruling that the Bureau of Land Management did not factor in the environmental risks to Montana’s water supply before it made a blanket approval for oil and gas leasing on nearly 150,000 acres of federal land.”
Oil and gas operations that leverage hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking,” utilize high-pressure water drills to access natural gas deposits deep underground. There is evidence that this injected water can mix with source water, eventually leading to drinking water contamination.
An environmental group sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) after it issued 287 leases in 2017 and 2018, arguing that BLM had violated federal law by failing to analyze the risks that this potential oil and gas drilling posed to drinking water. Judge Morris has bolstered that assessment, vacating BLM’s assessment and asking the agency to study the environmental impacts of drilling more carefully.
Specifically, Judge Morris found that the BLM failed to meet the 1970 National Environmental Policy Act, which requires the federal government to analyze both the immediate local environmental impact of drilling projects as well as the cumulative effects of fossil fuel pollution on the global climate.
This decision is the latest in a growing series of rulings that push back against Trump administration work to increase oil and gas production in the country.
“Efforts by President Trump to deliver on his campaign promises to help the oil, gas and coal industries and roll back President Barack Obama’s signature environmental policies have repeatedly been blocked by the courts,” The New York Times reported. “Many have been denied for reasons similar to those given by Judge Morris… The administration did not follow correct legal protocol in justifying its actions.”
Ultimately, Morris vacated the oil and gas leases issued in the sales and vacated BLM’s finding that there would be no significant impact to the environment from the drilling. He has ordered BLM to conduct additional study of the environmental ramifications of the proposed drilling if the operations are to go forward.
To read more about the drinking water impacts of fracking practices visit Water Online’s Produced Water Solutions Center.