For Immediate Release: Nov. 26, 2002

BLM Accepting Public Comments on EA for Proposal to Drill Gas Well in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is now accepting public comments on an Environmental Assessment (EA) of a proposal by Questar Exploration and Production to drill one conventional gas well (known as the Cutthroat #14) on Mockingbird Mesa in the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument about 18 miles northwest Cortez.

The proposal calls for about 1.5 acres of Federal lands to be stripped of vegetation, leveled, graded, and surfaced with gravel, if necessary, for the well pad site. The associated road and pipeline would disturb about 2.5 acres of Federal lands. The EA addresses potential impacts on natural and cultural resources in the project area of construction, operation, reclamation and abandonment of the wells associated with approval of Questar’s Application for Permit to Drill. The well would be accessed through an existing locked access gate on a native-surfaced portion of County Road Y on Mockingbird Mesa in Montezuma County. An Application for Permit to Drill is not approved until after a Decision Record is filed.

About 85% of CANM is leased for oil and gas resources. Development of existing leases is allowed, subject to valid and existing rights, when those activities do not create new impacts that would interfere with proper care and management of the objects protected by the Monument Proclamation. The planned drilling depth of about 6,600 feet would target the Ismay and Desert Creek formations of the Paradox Group on an existing oil and gas lease issued by the BLM. The Proposed Action conforms to the BLM’s San Juan/San Miguel Resource Management Plan of 1985.

Hard copies of the EA are available at:
Dolores Public Lands Center, 100 North Sixth Street, P.O. Box 210, Dolores, CO 81323,
and
San Public Lands Center, 15 Burnett Court, Durango, CO 81301.

The EA is available on the Web at:
http://www.co.blm.gov/canm/questar.htm 

The BLM is accepting public comment for 30 days. Written comments should be sent to:
Manager, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
Anasazi Heritage Center
27501 Highway 184
Dolores CO 81323.

For more information, please contact Dave Swanson at 970 385-1370.

-BLM-