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July 1, 2008
Agency Requires a FULL
Environmental Study OF COMPANY'S PLANS TO EXPLORE FOR OIL ON THE
Carrizo Plain NATIONAL MONUMENT
The Bureau of
Land Management Requires a Full Environmental Impact Statement
Due to "Potential Significant Impacts to the Unique
Characteristics of the Monument"
Carrizo Plain, Calif. - Last
month, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation notified an oil company
that it must conduct the highest level of environmental review
before moving forward with plans to conduct oil exploration in
the Carrizo Plain National Monument. The agency's decision was
in response to demands by a coalition of conservation
organizations, including ForestWatch, to prepare a full
Environmental Impact Statement before approving the use of
thumper trucks and explosives to search for oil in this
ecologically critical area in San Luis Obispo County.
Vintage Production LLC, a
subsidiary of oil giant Occidental Petroleum Corp., owns 30,000
acres of mineral rights on the valley floor of the Carrizo Plain
National Monument. Vintage first announced plans to exploit
these mineral rights in March 2008, and filed a formal
application the following month. The notice announced plans to
conduct seismic testing along a five-mile stretch of the Carrizo
Plain National Monument's valley floor using dynamite or giant
thumper trucks.
The red line in the
middle of the map indicates the proposed five-mile
exploration line through the heart of the Carrizo Plain National
Monument.
Both methods would cause
significant ground disturbance that would affect the sensitive
ecology of this fragile area, particularly for endangered
wildlife like the giant kangaroo rat, the San Joaquin kit fox,
and the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, all of which live in the
area in underground burrows.
Photo courtesy of
National Energy Technology Laboratory, USDOE.
These concerns formed the basis of
a letter from a coalition of conservation organizations to the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management, demanding that the agency fully
evaluate the environmental impacts of exploration activities on
the National Monument. Specifically, the groups urged the BLM to
prepare a full EIS before approving the exploration permit. A
full EIS, the groups argued, was required to comply with federal
environmental laws as well as to ensure the protection of rare
wildlife and habitat in the exploration area.
Last month, the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management notified Vintage that the company would be
required to prepare a full EIS. "After conducting a preliminary
biological survey for threatened and endangered species and
considering the heightened significant public interest
associated with conducting a project such as this within a
national monument, BLM has determined that an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) is required due to the potential
significant impacts to the unique characteristics of the
monument," said the BLM letter.
What's Next
ForestWatch will continue to track this issue to protect the
Carrizo Plain National Monument from runaway oil development.
What little oil remains in the monument is not worth the damage
that could occur from using thumper trucks and explosives in
this ecologically fragile area.
The BLM may release a draft EIS
for public review and comment later this year. That draft EIS
and any public hearings associated with it will be posted to
this website, so stay tuned!
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