NEWS BULLETIN

September 22, 2006 --- Vol. 12, No. 62September 2006

BLM brief asks court for relief from injunction

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management today filed a court brief in the case in which the U.S. District Court has placed a temporary injunction halting BLM’s Sept. 27 National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska lease sale. Several environmental groups had sued to stop the sale, which includes an environmentally sensitive special area adjacent to Teshekpuk Lake in northeastern NPR-A.

The BLM brief rejects all of the plaintiffs’ arguments in the lawsuit, including the question of considering cumulative impacts of leasing in the Teshekpuk Lake area. The court issued the temporary injunction on the sale because it agreed that BLM had not adequately considered these cumulative impacts.

Today’s court brief says that, if “the court believes it must impose some injunctive relief” until further analysis of the cumulative effects is done, the agency asks that the court preclude only the special area adjacent to Teshekpuk Lake from the lease sale.

Meantime, BLM has assured Petroleum News that it is proceeding with the NPR-A lease sale, including the Teshekpuk Lake special area, and that companies should submit bids for the sale.

Bids for the Sept. 27 sale are due today.


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