Tell Forest Service to cancel Tract 13 federal oil and gas lease!
ACTION ALERT
Tell Forest Service to withdraw Tract 13 Federal Oil and Gas Lease!
Deadline: May 14, 2008
The Forest Service is proposing to lease 101 acres of federally-owned mineral rights to Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) for drilling at least six oil and gas wells in the Salmon Creek area of the Allegheny National Forest. The Forest Service dubbed Salmon Creek as one of the “most threatened landscapes” in the Allegheny just a couple years ago due to the high amount of oil and gas drilling that has already occurred in this area. Now, the Forest Service wants to increase those impacts by leasing the federal minerals it owns.
The Forest Service originally proposed this lease last year but cancelled the project after the Allegheny Defense Project pointed out that the agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by relying on outdated environmental analyses to approve the lease. Unfortunately, instead of scrapping the lease altogether, the Forest Service found a loophole called the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The Forest Service is now proposing to categorically exclude the leasing of these federal minerals pursuant to the Energy Policy Act. This means there will be no analysis of the environmental impacts of the drilling and no opportunity for public comment pursuant to NEPA.
The Forest Service is bending over backwards to lease these minerals to PGE. Please contact the Forest Service and tell them to cancel this ill-conceived proposal once and for all.
Leanne Marten, Forest Supervisor
Allegheny National Forest
222 Liberty Street
Warren, PA 16365
comments-eastern-allegheny@fs.fed.us
***SAMPLE LETTER***
Supervisor Marten,
Please cancel the Tract 13 federal oil and gas lease. The Forest Service originally proposed this lease last year but cancelled the project after the Allegheny Defense Project pointed out that the agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by relying on outdated environmental analyses to approve the lease. Unfortunately, instead of scrapping the lease altogether, the Forest Service found a loophole called the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The Forest Service is now proposing to categorically exclude the leasing of these federal minerals pursuant to the Energy Policy Act. This means that there will be no analysis of the environmental impacts of the drilling and no opportunity for public comment pursuant to NEPA.
It is shocking the Forest Service would go to such efforts to appease an oil company that has already drilled hundreds of oil and gas wells in the Salmon Creek watershed. In fact, PGE has drilled so many wells in this watershed that the Forest Service designated it one of the “most threatened landscapes” in the Allegheny National Forest. Now, instead of reversing the damage that has been done, the Forest Service proposes to increase the impacts to the Salmon Creek watershed. This is a reckless course of action for the Forest Service to take in light of the recent forest plan appeal decision.
On February 15, 2008 the Forest Service Chief issued its decision on approximately 80 appeals to the 2007 revised forest plan. In the decision, the Chief issued instructions declaring the Forest Service has the “responsibility to ensure surface resources are protected.” The Chief also stated the Allegheny Forest Service failed to consider cumulative effects of oil and gas drilling on local and regional air quality. Proposing to lease federal minerals before the Allegheny Forest Service addresses the Chief’s concerns - particularly how the agency plans to address the cumulative effects of private and federal oil and gas drilling on local and regional air quality - is in direct conflict with the forest plan appeal decision.
Additionally, the categorical exclusion the Forest Service proposes to use is inapplicable because the Forest Service is not operating under a fully authorized forest plan. As stated above, the Forest Service Chief found that the Allegheny Forest Service failed to consider the cumulative effects of oil and gas drilling in the revised forest plan. This includes private and federal oil and gas drilling. Thus, until the Forest Service addresses the Chief’s concerns regarding the cumulative effects of oil and gas drilling on local and regional air quality, it is precluded from using the Energy Policy Act to categorically exclude federal oil and gas leasing.
Sincerely,
__________________________