Rawlins Field Office
| Contacts: | Serena Baker, | |||
| 307-212-0197 |
BLM Rawlins Field Office Seeking Comment on 1.1 Million Acre
Continental Divide-Creston Natural Gas Project Expansion
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Rawlins Field Office is seeking public comment on its environmental analysis of a proposed major expansion of natural gas development on 1.1 million acres of mixed ownership land in Carbon and Sweetwater counties, Wyo.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) evaluates the potential impacts of the Continental Divide-Creston (CD-C) Natural Gas Development Project, a proposal to further natural gas development near the existing Continental Divide/Wamsutter II and Creston/Blue Gap natural-gas fields. The project would develop 8,950 additional natural gas wells, including 100 to 500 coal bed natural gas wells, using a combination of vertical and directional drilling techniques, during the next 15 years. The wells could produce an estimated 12.02 trillion cubic feet of natural gas during the project’s anticipated 30 to 40 year life.
The checkerboard pattern of land ownership for the project is comprised of 59 percent federal, 37 percent private and 4 percent state-owned land. The development stretches from about 25 miles west of the city of Rawlins, Wyo., on the eastern boundary to roughly 50 miles east of the city of Rock Springs, Wyo. as the western boundary. Interstate 80 bisects the project area. Proposed by BP American Production Co., the planned facilities would include well pads, gas and water collection pipelines, compressor stations, water disposal systems, an access road network and an electrical distribution system. The CD-C project area was first developed for natural gas in the 1950s, and currently supports more than 4,000 wells. Presently, there are 49,218 acres of surface disturbance, including nearly 8,500 acres of long-term disturbance, in the project area.
The BLM has worked closely with federal, state and local partners, members of the environmental and conservation communities as well as other interested stakeholders to develop the EIS’s preferred alternative, which would require significant environment mitigation measures to ensure an appropriate balance between energy development and protection of the area’s outstanding natural resources.
Written comments will be accepted until January 21, 2013. Comments may be emailed to Continental_Divide_Creston_WYMail@blm.gov, faxed to 307-328-4224, or mailed to the Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins Field Office, P.O. Box 2407, Rawlins, WY 82301.
After the 45-day comment period on the Draft EIS concludes, all comments will be reviewed, responded to, and addressed in Final EIS which is anticipated to be released summer 2014.
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
For further information, please contact Mark Ames at 307-328-4294.
Note to editor: a link to a map of the proposed project can be found at www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/rfo/cd_creston.html.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
Rawlins Field Office 1300 N. Third Street Rawlins, WY 82301