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-' Unlritting victim of the Teapot: Dome ScandaJ, which resullet!' In a. "we can'l gi'i'e away th~ public lands syndrome" in the governmental bureaucracy, Most shale-bearing land is ,located in the public domam l and shale developers have' ,l<lced continual litigation uim the Department of Inlerior, '. Under the 1920 ~Jineral Lea ~ Iflg ACI, shale was removed rom the filing 01 mining claims .by.mineral prospectors. ~finjng c1auns filed prior to tbat lime were ccnsidered valid. I In 1%0, Interior Secretary' .H~old Ickes filed challenges ~ agamst thooe claims on the I grounds tbat the annual .$100 as. I essment work had not been l done. AllhOUgh the courts lound - against Ickes, the granting 01 patents was held up during his .te~ and the practice continued dunng the Eisenhower, Ken. ,:edy and Jobnson administra. tlons. ~n. 1971 a series of legal .?PJOlOOS from the Dt:>partment ,of Interior was the first breakthrough in the long legal battle over private claims, al. thougb 80 per cent of the shale lands remain in governmental control. . , The decision last week to con. Sider prototype leases is the first direct action to open shale ,in the public domain to develop- ment. This action resulted fr,om the establishment of an ..oil Shale Task Force named by Interior 'Secretary Walter Hic. leI in January, 1970, which reccmmended the prototype program and released' a prelim. inary environmental statement. Nominations for the st" tracts :were requested' by Interior and the selections were made last April. The task force released a draft environmental statement ,last September which was followed by publlc hearings ; held in lhe three states to be I i aflected. I But since the legal and gO\'. , J emmental opposition to oil shale development has been o\'ercome, a new and powerful , oppo~ent has emerged. Rising conSCIOUSness of conservation I and environmental con~rns I burst on tbe scelle in the late 1960's and has continued into the early lears of the '70's. Even the most ardent propo. penis of oil shale cannot argue that the de\'elopment of a ma. . ture iudustry, aile capahle or . producing up to a million bar.1 rels of oil per day, will leave I the land as it found il. - -'-.' hnnact .!"~""'-."'>_' . _, T."l"" i Statement relea~ed this. week III . conjunction with the announce- ment of the proposed prototype It>aseg goes into exten.<:ire de-I tall on what effect both tht> short-term prototype program I nd a long.term development of a mature industry Could have n .the surrounding countr)". side. . , It takes a ton of the richest Shale (mahogany vein) to pr~ duce 30 gallons of oil, the.. report points out. There are 42 gallons of oil in one barrel. ln~ :dustry leaders are looking for;. ?.ard to a daily production oi upwards 01 one million barrel; Per day. The thorniest emiron. 'lnental prohlem tbe shale dd. }'t!opers filet is what to do witli ~he daily mountain of spenl shale such a production $ched. We would produce, . Some of the spent Shale can be returned to the mines from which it came, the statemerit $ays. But not all of It. "The volt. ume of spent material, even after maximum compaction, i1 ~t least "12 per cent greater. than its in-plat't volume," the' report continues. I SUrface disposal ",ill be re. u1red, it says. This wi~ require additional crushing In some cases, water to help com!' pact the material and to keep: doVtn the dust. and land upon which to dump it. Present. plans cal1 fOf the filling of bolt canyons in the area of the pro: totype mines. TI1is, the state- ment admits. will causedisrup- lion for wildlife, \'egetation and water resources. Experiments have been con. "ducted which indicate the spent "-bale can sustain \'egetation such as hlue grass, sage and crested wheat, but this will require planting and the use of additional water in what i.! . asicaDy an arid region. It has also been demonstrated that 'the spent shale can be turned Into cinder blocks and road. building material. The volume of the residue Is too great, ho...... ever, and the region to be mined too remote for planners "10 bt>lieve the creation of "another product would ever provide 3 viable method of disposing of most of the spen~ shale. The agreement for the proto- ~pe oil shale leases states the 1:Ievelopers must conform with local, lederal and state air and water quality standanb. The impact statement anticipate' little disrupUon caused in lhese area.' by the prototype de\.elop- - ~ - JDE'nt. but concedes there will }'ears or more to prOduce I probably be a regional impact will take U ~ made by a mature industry . me after that to gl I' . plants budt and into aperatio ~teTlor officials are quick to - after which careful revil polOl oul the sl.:1tement released will be made of the en irJ ,last we.ek does .not mean a lull. mental impact of the v al: .scale ?il shale mdus~y is going and the oil shale indus~~i to sprmg full blown munedlate- die aborning at that r J Iy on the Western Slope First IDle. ihere is the 6O-(tay grace 'periOO On ~he other side of the c before the Secretary 01 Interior there IS a new sense of urgen~ lnakes the final deeision al. ~a~ed by present fuel short ~ugh most observers fe~l he gt - shortages U:at can.onl; rnl decide in lav(lr of the leas- f~rs~yorse bas" sn ,lncreasl.D~ 109 program. . pu Ie c amors fli I. Increased. production of eO The W1nner~. of t~e subse- ergy. The fuel shortages an quent competit.IVC bld5 must probably the fIrst l<lctor the 01 come up then ~th detaUed pro- shale industry has had In j~ p-ams for. envIronmental lafe- favor dUring its Ioni ad! ~ards which may tab three turbulent history. I - - I . - 0004