Judge rejects last-ditch move to block helium drilling in Utah wilderness

Helium producers say they will begin drilling soon inside newly designated Utah wilderness after a federal judge turned down environmental groups’ request for an emergency injunction that would have blocked the project.

In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras concluded the project might not result in “irreparable harm” to the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness given the safeguards the Bureau of Land Management [BLM] and Twin Bridges Resources have put in place to minimize the so-called Bowknot helium project’s footprint and lasting impacts.

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) and other groups will continue to challenge the legality of the federal lease the BLM issued to Twin Bridges and the expedited environmental review that resulted in a final decision Dec. 23 approving the project’s exploratory phase.

“They [the BLM] acknowledged the damage at the drill site and the expanded road is permanent. They are going to screw up the landscape where the drill pad is and you will see, hear and be impacted by the operations at the surface,” said SUWA’s legal director Steve Bloch. “We know this operation is going to harm the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness and we are not done fighting it.”

Read more: https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2021/01/13/judge-rejects-last-ditch/
(Salt Lake Tribune)