WSP10424

• File Number: 8040.200
• Description: Section D General Studies-Energy
• Date: 8/30/1973
• Author: Dick Prouty
• Title: The Denver Post-Oil Shale Development-US Claims Control of Private Land
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: News Article/Press Release

-,

.-...----....L

I ENVIRONMENT IMPACT REPORT I

10;-/ Shale.
Deve/opmen

I u. S. Claims
Control of
Private Land

Uv niCK I'ItOliT\'
OcnH'r j'ost Em ironment Jo:ditflr
Thr haU-cenlury old dream of an oil
~hale industry' in Colorado, Wyoming and
Ulah moved nearer 10 reality Thursday
with publication of an pnvironmenta) im-
pact statement on leasing 01 federal 011
sha]elands.
HOI\e\'{'(, Ihe development Will not hi'
without an environmental prkr tag,
The :I,200-p<tgc, six.\olume reporl by
Ihe C,S. lnlrrior Oeparlmrnt il> expectl'd
10 Ix> lolln"'l'd later this y'car by petro-
leum-indu~try bidding III del'clop prompt-
]y all or pout uf SIX ~.J20-acre Iract.!! or
federal sha]e lands in Colorado, Wyo-
ming lInd t'tah--a ~mall portion 01 Ih'"
land in thl' regillll hc<lrll1g uil shll]e.
Interior asserts Ihat oil from shale can
"CQntribule slgmficantly" In relieving th~
l'ncrgv crisis in the 1930s ifthp leasJnl:
program IS inaiated and successful.
Similar to Draft
The report. in man:.- resp<'ct~, is sinular
10 a draft statement Issued last Septem-
ber lor a prototype !f'asing program on
froerally o\\ned portions of the wurld.s
lar~esl known hvdrocarbon rcser\e~.
for the first-time, however. Inlcriflr
claims Jurisdiction owr privately owned
lands with OJI shale deposit!', It also lIe-
linol\]('(\ges what could tit> lhc greatest
sm~te :ndustria] de\'e!opmenl sinl'~ minin.t:
boom day-s a century' ago could bt- limited
or pre\-enlrd by requirements for air poilu-
lionconlrol.
Rogers C R \lorlon, inlerior St'Cre!.lry.
~ajd a deciswn on whether to ,('{'Ii bid~
fllr th(' tracts wouldn't be made for at If'a~t
60 day's.

3).H"l'lf( ?o-\f
9/'QI73

\ Tm> rrport. estImated 10 cost between
\ I Si mIllion and S10 mi]lion, is haSlo.d Up"l'1 \
I a prototype program of a planl produc-
ing 50,000 barrels of oil daily from iO,OOO
10 IROOO tons of shale, Such a plant would
cost at least $250 million, including shall'
mming and processing facilities,
Environment Factors
~laJor environmental concerns for till'
protot~'pe are water, air. wildlife, Ut..
land itselr. great areas of which could
be surfaced mined 10 obtain the shale.
Thl' major emironmental factor would
be the deluge of people into the ar(Oa to
oPf'rate the indlLStr)'. the report said.
A Denver Researt'h Institute report
issued this week prrdicts 160,000 popu]a-
tion lor northwest Colorado alone within
15 years if an oil shate industry develops.
the population is now 78,200 in the thr('e.
county area.
The roads, power plants, schooh, citil's,
airports and (Jther f<lcnities 10 serve work-
ers and lheir families would ha\e a
~reater en\'ironmenta( imp:lct than thf'
mdustry i1.5elf.
Unavoidable Problems
Int{'rior's ana]~'sis predicted bolh un-
avoidable environm('ntal problems llnd
majorehangcs in the social and rconoml!:
rondltions of tht" region.
"Increased urbaniz.1tion of a re~ion
which is primarily rural and remote would
be an unavoidable consequence of oil shale
de\'el\,pment:'theilllpact statement said,
Ifrull_~alede\'e1opmenttakesplaee,lh~
r('port said, it will probably exert a cumu.
lati\'e IOnucne(' upvn the oil shale region'~
em'ire.nmcnt fur more than a hundred
years
The ('xp&ted 1'1l\"lrOnmentat impact in-
dudes deterioration of waler Quaht)" and
air Quality, dlsturb(lncc of land and de-
structiun of Its \'egctdtion with disruption
of lh(' local ecology, and dcpletion or dis-
persion of many animal Spl'CleS, said the
repurt,
Interior said that alUlough pnvatE' Oll
shale l..nds ciln be developt>d without cvm-
ling under fl'<iera( em'ironme-nta] regula-
tions, it believE'S "any significantopt'ralions
Cool;,",d ., p.,' 28, \

0002

.