Rocky Mountain drilling proposal brings flood of correspondence

The Associated Press

Government officials studying possible petroleum drilling along the Rocky Mountain Front northwest of Great Falls, Mont., are awash in letters and e-mails from people who commented. Close to 50,000 pieces of communication, on paper and electronic, have been received, said Lynn Ricci of the federal Bureau of Land Management in Lewistown, Mont. She leads an interagency team of more than 40 people that is reviewing public comment and expects to release, in February, an environmental impact statement on Rocky Mountain Front drilling. Some of the pieces of correspondence are duplicates with different signatures, but Ricci said June 21 that she was struck by the extent to which people “took time to lay out issues and concerns involving the proposal.” Only a handful of the comments were on postcards, she said.

It will be at least a month before the content is summarized in a report.

Ricci declined to say whether the comments tend to favor or oppose drilling.

“I hesitate to even go there,” she said. “We’re not taking a vote here.”

StarTech Energy Corp. of Calgary, Alberta, owns oil and gas leases in the Blackleaf area of the Front and wants to develop them. The leases predate the 1997 suspension of leasing in the area. Some writers said they were concerned about pollution, wildlife protection, the spread of noxious weeds and petroleum development’s effect on scenery. Others said it is important to tap energy resources along the Front.

“It’s definitely a project with national interest and beyond,” Ricci said, noting the correspondence originated from coast to coast and also came from some other countries. In May the BLM held a series of Montana meetings to gather public comment. Letters and e-mails continued to arrive after the comment deadline. Ricci said those are read and considered, but do not become part of the formal record.