** Scathing audit finds Utah's oil and gas regulators asleep at the wheel
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Thursday, November 21, 2019
Oil and gas drilling near Moab, Utah | Liz Thomas, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance ([link removed])

A scathing audit has revealed ([link removed]) that Utah's oil and gas regulators have failed to enforce environmental and safety rules for decades, allowing spills to go unremediated, putting public health at risk and leaving taxpayers on the hook for more than $1 million in cleanup costs. Notably, though regulators identified many instances in which standards were violated, they could not identify a single fine ever issued against an oil and gas operator in the last 24 years.

While state inspectors issued numerous notices of violation, or "NOVs," requiring oil and gas operators to correct environmental and safety violations within 30 days, the average time for actually correcting those violations averaged nearly three years. The audit noted ([link removed]) , "Some industry operators are aware of the lack of consequence associated with NOVs and have used negligence to their advantage. Receiving an NOV, or several NOVs, with no consequences may become a competitive advantage for noncompliant operators who cut corners."

In one instance, regulators issued a notice ([link removed]) requiring a drilling wastewater facility to replace the liner on a pond, or reclaim it altogether, within 30 days. Regulators never followed up, and three years later the wastewater pond leaked into local water sources. Such a lack of enforcement is a major problem in a state with more than 16,000 active oil and gas wells, and particularly notable given Utah's push to transfer national public lands ([link removed]) into state management.
Quick hits


** National wildlife refuges struggle under budget cuts and staff shortages
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High Country News ([link removed])


** BLM employees who don't accept forced relocation will lose jobs in January
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The Hill ([link removed])


** Interior email lays out BLM goals of increasing drilling and mining, moving headquarters West
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Seeking to keep struggling coal plants alive, Wyoming legislators consider deregulation
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WyoFile ([link removed])


** Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats threatened by potash mining, overuse
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Land acquisition to expand popular trail system near Colorado National Monument
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Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed])


** Opinion: As Idaho and Wyoming embrace clean energy, Montana lags behind
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Billings Gazette ([link removed])


** Editorial: Wyoming regulators right to require drillers to use permits or lose them
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Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed])
Quote of the day
No one would accuse Idaho of being far-left environmentalists, but earlier this year that state’s largest utility made a bold announcement: they’re committing to move to 100% clean energy by 2045.”
—Mike Scott and David Merrill, Billings Gazette ([link removed])
Picture this
Starry sky over Zion National Park, which celebrated its 100th birthday this week.
Photo by John Weatherby | @Interior ([link removed])

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