|
An Estonian oil company has given up on plans to mine oil shale from national public lands in Utah. Enefit notified the Bureau of Land Management that it will relinquish its existing exploration leases and proposed a plan to clean up its research and development work there in the coming months.
Extracting oil from shale rock requires large amounts of water, and although Enefit still holds rights to shale on private and state lands in Utah, it's not clear that the company will ever hold enough water rights to successfully mine oil shale. Enefit had sold the rights to 11,000 acre-feet of water to the owners of a nearby coal-fired power plant for just $10, a move that conservation groups described to CWP's The Landscape podcast as a clumsy attempt to avoid Utah's use-it-or-lose-it water laws.
Under an agreement with Grand Canyon Trust, the power plant owners agreed to not use those water rights for any kind of fossil fuel production. Without water rights, the future of oil shale in Utah appears dim.
“This settlement ensures that this very large water right can’t be siphoned from the Upper Colorado River Basin to develop oil shale or other fossil fuels,” said Grand Canyon Trust attorney Michael Toll, the architect of the water rights settlement. “Between the settlement and the abandonment of the federal lease, we’re hopeful that Enefit’s oil shale plans may finally be gone for good.”
A road map for fixing hard rock mining
The Biden administration released its long-awaited interagency working group report on mining reform this week, recommending that Congress overhaul the 151-year-old law that governs hard rock mining in the U.S. The report includes more than 60 recommendations on how to boost clean energy production while improving environmental safeguards and increasing engagement with communities and Tribes.
Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau, who chaired the working group, told reporters that the current process “is proving to be a recipe for local opposition, litigation and protracted permitting delays. I’m not saying we need to rewrite America’s mining laws every century, but maybe every other century.”
The report was met with support from conservation groups, which stressed the need for urgent action in Congress and at federal agencies.
“Irresponsible mining is one of the biggest threats to Western lands,” said Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby. “The mines of the 20th century polluted waterways, poisoned communities, and left scars all over the West. We can have clean energy and healthy Western lands and communities, but only if we update our mining laws and regulations for the 21st century.”
|
The clean energy transition cannot occur on the backs of Indigenous people. As the Biden administration supports the expansion of domestic mining, it is imperative that these modest reforms are implemented immediately and that Indigenous voices have a full seat at the table.”
