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Norton calls Otero Mesa drilling plan tough Environmentalists say no energy development should be allowed; BLM says only 5% of surface can be developed The Associated Press
Interior Secretary Gale Norton describes the federal government’s plan to guide new oil and gas development on Otero Mesa as the toughest plan of its kind in the nation.
She said limits on drilling for the area south of Alamogordo, New Mexico, were the result of community comments and “what makes sense for the land itself based on ecosystem, scenic and recreational value.”
“This is the most restrictive fluid minerals plan ever developed by the Bureau of Land Management,” Norton said.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, three state agencies and environmentalists have protested the plan for exploring Otero Mesa, one of the state’s last major Chihuahuan desert grasslands. They argue that the BLM’s final draft is vastly different and much more unacceptable than its original proposal. Environmentalists said it doesn’t make sense to say the final plan includes tough restrictions.
“Obviously it’s not true because there are some plans that do not allow energy development,” said Jim Steitz, an organizer at the Southwest Environmental Center in Las Cruces. Only 5 percent can be roads and well pads The draft limited new oil and gas wells in large blocks of grassland to within 150 yards of existing roads. The BLM opted instead in the final plan to protect the grasslands by requiring that drilling projects by different companies be coordinated to minimize new roads and only 5 percent of each development could be occupied by roads and well pads.
Linda Rundell, director of the BLM in New Mexico, said the 5 percent criteria has never been tried before and is what makes the plan so tough.
“We’re breaking new ground, and it’s going to be interesting to see how it works out,” she said.
Bob Gallagher, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said the 5 percent restriction and the requirement that companies work together will be meaningful.
“The BLM should be commended,” he said. “I think it’s innovative thinking that, to be blunt, we’re not used to seeing from federal land management agencies.”
Norton, who was only recently briefed on the plan, said it was developed without involvement from Washington, D.C. “The challenge in all of our land use planning is trying to balance all the different uses for public lands,” she said. “We routinely put in place protections for the environment ... throughout our process.”
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