Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
People Call for an End to the Government's Secretive Oil Drilling Policy
Just over three months ago, in a momentous victory for the public’s right to know and government transparency, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Richard P. Matsch ruled on February 13, 2013 that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the public’s right to know when it concealed the identity of the entities that nominate public lands for gas drilling leases. Specifically, the Court held that BLM’s asserted justification for withholding the requested information “runs directly contrary to the purpose of the public sale process.”
The Western Environmental Law Center (WELC), on behalf of Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC), filed the FOIA request and subsequent lawsuit that resulted in the Court’s favorable ruling. (The organizations were seeking the names of the corporations that had nominated 30,000 acres of public lands surrounding the North Fork Valley in western Colorado for drilling and fracking.)
On April 15, 2013, BLM released the names of the EOI (Expression of Interest) submitters that had nominated the public lands at issue in the lawsuit. However, despite this court ruling, BLM staff has indicated that it does not intend to amend its policy of refusing to release of the identity of EOI submitters to the public.
Now, WELC, CHC, and 27 other local and national groups are calling on the BLM to lift this veil of secrecy and bring its policy in compliance with the Court’s ruling. In a letter sent today to BLM, the organizations labeled BLM’s refusal to change its policy “inappropriate, illegal, and inconsistent with the mandates of FOIA.”
...
The Western Environmental Law Center (WELC), on behalf of Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC), filed the FOIA request and subsequent lawsuit that resulted in the Court’s favorable ruling. (The organizations were seeking the names of the corporations that had nominated 30,000 acres of public lands surrounding the North Fork Valley in western Colorado for drilling and fracking.)
On April 15, 2013, BLM released the names of the EOI (Expression of Interest) submitters that had nominated the public lands at issue in the lawsuit. However, despite this court ruling, BLM staff has indicated that it does not intend to amend its policy of refusing to release of the identity of EOI submitters to the public.
Now, WELC, CHC, and 27 other local and national groups are calling on the BLM to lift this veil of secrecy and bring its policy in compliance with the Court’s ruling. In a letter sent today to BLM, the organizations labeled BLM’s refusal to change its policy “inappropriate, illegal, and inconsistent with the mandates of FOIA.”
...
http://www.citizensforahealthycommunity.org/news/coalition-of-groups-joins-chc-in-calling-on-blm-to-end-secretive-policy
