The Bureau of Land Management will allow a New Mexico
company to drill for gas on federal land near Lechuguilla Cave, the
deepest cave in the United States and part of Carlsbad Caverns
National Park (HCN, 2/22/93). But Yates Petroleum says the strict
criteria the agency established for the leases make it economically
infeasible to drill. According to the Jan. 31 decision, the company
must first move its well site 1,000 feet north of an initially
proposed site to avoid hitting cave passages. The BLM will also
establish a 6,000-acre cave-protection zone, where drilling can
only take place directionally from outside the zone, and close the
entire 8,300-acre area under study to future oil and gas leasing.
“It’s a good compromise,” says Carlsbad Cavern Superintendent Frank
Deckert. But Fred Yates, president of Yates Petroleum, says the
decision amounts to a taking of his property. He told the
Albuquerque Journal that the BLM should compensate him for lost
revenue. Joe Incardine of the BLM disagrees. “He can drill up to
three wells on his property,” he says. “We don’t feel that’s a
taking. We feel that’s an approval.” For a copy of the Record of
Decision for the Dark Canyon Final Environmental Impact Statement,
contact Joe Incardine of the BLM at
505/438-7404.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline BLM OKs drilling near cave, sort of.
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