Public Meetings Begin On Federal Oil Shale Plan

SILT, Colo. (AP) - The federal government is holding the first of several public meetings on plans for oil shale development on public lands that would keep activity off thousands of acres of environmentally sensitive areas in three Western states.

Under the proposal, new leases initially would be issued strictly for research on how to commercially produce oil from oil shale in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.

The first meeting is being held Monday in Silt to discuss the environmental impact and the different options that have been announced.

The George W. Bush administration made almost 2 million acres available for potential oil shale development and 431,000 acres for tar sands development.

Federal officials took a new look after conservation groups filed a lawsuit in 2009 alleging the government hadn't fully reviewed possible environmental impacts.

A new draft environmental impact statement released earlier this year says the preferred plan now is to make more than 35,000 acres in Colorado, 250,000 acres in Utah and more than 174,000 acres in Wyoming available for oil shale research. Another 91,000 acres in eastern Utah would be available for activities related to tar sands research.

Sage grouse habitat, areas of critical environmental concern and the Adobe Town area in Wyoming are among those that would be off limits.

The public has until May 4 to comment on the proposal.

President Barack Obama's administration said it continues to encourage research.

BLM Director Bob Abbey said in a statement that if oil shale is to be viable on a commercial scale, the federal government must take a common-sense approach that encourages research and development first.

Utah Republican Gov. Gary Herbert said the program is just political posturing by the federal government. The Obama administration is hostile to the possible development of much-needed energy resources, he said.

The Bureau of Land Management estimates the Green River Formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming has 1.2 trillion to 1.8 trillion barrels of oil resources, but not all may be recoverable.

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