BLM Unable to Adequately Protect Land, Report Says

The Bureau of Land Management is so swamped that it can’t adequately protect the environment as the natural gas boom sweeps Colorado and four other western states, according to a report to Congress.

Field offices in some states are falling far short of their mission to minimize environmental damage while caravans of drilling rigs and other heavy equipment roll onto the prairies, mesas and high plains, a Government Accountability Office report concluded.

The agency reviewed offices in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana and New Mexico, and found, for instance, that in 2004 the Buffalo, Wyo., field office achieved only 27 percent of its required inspection goals.

It also said half of the other offices have a backlog of idle-well reviews.

Colorado’s Glenwood Springs field office and Carlsbad, N.M., were the only offices of eight visited by the GAO that met environmental inspection goals for the past six years.

“It got tight for us the past couple of years because our staff is stretched to the limit,” said Steve Bennett, associate field manager of the Glenwood office.

In 1999, the Glenwood office reviewed eight applications for drilling permits. They were handled by one full-time oil and gas staffer .

Last year, the staff had grown to about a dozen, and they processed 403 applications.

So far this year there have been 496 applications, and other office specialists such as air- and water-quality monitors, a wildlife biologist, an archaeologist and others have been pressed into duty working on permits and monitoring operations in the field.

An on-site inspection has to be completed on every application before a permit is issued, but priorities are less clear on follow-up inspections, said Lynn Rust, BLM’s deputy state director for energy, lands and minerals.

“For instance, when it comes to the natural resources specifications, we have to decide if we need to go out and inspect every site for noxious weeds,” he said.

The GAO report, prepared for Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said in many cases the BLM is so focused on issuing natural gas permits it is glossing over follow-up inspections to protect land, air, water and wildlife hurt by the drilling operations.

The report indicated that nationwide, drilling permits approved by BLM more than tripled from 1,803 in fiscal year 1999 to 6,399 in fiscal year 2004.

At the same time, the oil and gas management budget rose just 64 percent and staffing levels by only 21 percent, so staff is having to devote increased time to processing drilling permits and less to environmental inspections.

“This administration appears to have lost its sense of balance between granting drilling permits to the oil and gas industry and protecting the natural wonder of the environment,” Lieberman responded.

“Striking the right balance is BLM’s statutory responsibility. Irresponsible stewardship of public lands while the oil and gas industry profits is not an acceptable balance.”

Anu Mittal, director of the Natural Resources and Environment Division who prepared the GAO report, said each office was asked how many more people they needed on their staff and got different answers depending on whether the answer was “realistic” or if funding was not an object.

“Some people were more forthcoming than others. Many were very nervous, but it’s obvious the bottom line is they need more people to process their applications,” she said.

“Eighteen months ago the Glenwood office wasn’t fully operational,” Rust said.

“Now it is one of seven pilot offices set up under the energy bill that will be specially funded to include other agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Army Corps of Engineers that work on gas production issues . . .

“We do know Washington sees a need for additional funding for the oil and gas budget and we expect to get a significant staff increase,” he said.

There is more fear of what could happen among Colorado environmentalists and state agencies than horror stories of what has happened on the 8.4 million acres managed by the BLM in the state.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife has made its concerns known _ including the fear that high concentrations of well sites, roads and pipelines can harm wildlife and its habitat _ in a series of Western Slope community meetings.

The Division of Wildlife fears that noise from well heads and compressors and vehicles could disturb sage grouse populations and wintering grounds for mule deer and elk. The agency also is concerned that gas operations will disturb vegetation, pollute fishing streams and disrupt hunting, said spokesman Randy Hampton.

“And recently we came up with a new one,” Hampton said. “Bear conflicts at drilling camps. Seems some of the oil workers like to feed the bears, and that will lead to problems.”

(Contact Gary Gerhardt of the Rocky Mountain News at www.rockymountainnews.com.)

© 2005 Scripps Howard News Service.

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