Pawnee National Grassland Oil & Gas Drilling
Current Status:
Active
Date Filed:
Jun 10, 2024
Case Title:
Center for Biological Diversity v. Keith E. Berger, in his official capacity as Field Manager for the U.S. Bureau of land Management's Royal Gorge Field Office, and Bureau of Land Management
Staff attorney(s):
Sarah Stellberg
Andrew Hursh
Client(s):
Center for Biological Diversity
To Protect:
Wildlife
Clean Air
Clean Water
Dark Skies
Scenic Vistas
States:Colorado
Case Information:
June 11, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for failing to protect shortgrass prairie in Colorado’s Pawnee National Grassland, which is threatened by continued oil and gas extraction.
The case challenges the agency’s authorization of drilling permits in and around the federally managed grassland. In issuing the permits, the BLM said it lacked authority to consider harms to wildlife, air and water, dark skies, or the aesthetic and visual character of the grassland because the federal minerals would be extracted by horizontal fracking from wells built on private or state lands. This unchecked extraction of publicly owned minerals threatens significant harm to Colorado communities and natural resources.
The Pawnee National Grassland is located in northern Colorado and is home to burrowing owls, swift foxes, supports more than 300 unique bird species. Oil and gas extraction in and around the area contributes to ozone pollution in the state’s Front Range, which has been a nonattainment area for the pollutant since 2004. Ozone, the key ingredient of smog, is a poisonous gas. Drilling and fracking are major sources of ozone-forming emissions.
