The case involving BLM’s potential violation of NEPA evolved over a couple of years, ultimately settling with a decision in March of 2019. The ruling by a federal district court in Washington D.C. found the BLM’s “Supplemental Environmental Assessment” (Supplemental EA) was riddled with flaws and oversights.1U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Environmental Assessment, (Utah, June 2016), https://eplanning.blm.gov/public_projects/nepa/59590/75180/82843/6-14DraftEA.pdf. 2Wildearth Guardians, et al., v. Zinke, et al., Western Energy Alliance, et al.. 16-1721 (RC), (Dis. District of Columbia, 2019). The court found that the BLM acted inconsistently with regards to the released Supplemental EA, they failed to consider the harm that would arise in the future from repeated drilling, and their claims that the harm done would be “insignificant” were false.
Though this decision resolved the 2016 claim, it has not settled the future of Nine Mile Canyon. In 2009, 63 sites within the Canyon were added to the National Register of Historic Places, which provided some hope for those seeking preservation.3Archivist, “Nine Mile Canyon sites listed on National Register of Historic Places,” The Moab Times – Independent, December 10, 2009, https://moabtimes.com/2009/12/10/5088664-nine-mile-canyon-sites-listed-on-national-register-of-historic-places/. The area surrounding the Canyon, however, remains rich in natural gas and continues to strike an unbalance in the relationship between conservation and development.
