Nick Snow
OGJ Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 18 -- The US Bureau of Land Management’s Vernal, Utah, field office extended until Dec. 30 the public comment period for its draft environmental impact statement covering Gasco Energy Inc.’s proposed Uinta basin natural gas project in eastern Utah.
BLM said it discovered during the public comment period, which began Oct. 5 and was scheduled to end on Nov. 15, that while Chapters 3 and 4 of the Gasco draft EIS were up to date regarding potential air quality impacts from the proposed project, old data were included in the air quality technical support appendixes.
It said the Denver independent producer’s proposal calls for up to 491 new gas wells, 325 miles of new roads, and 431 miles of pipelines to support the development. Gasco also plans to construct a 214-acre evaporative facility to dispose of produced water, the US Department of the Interior agency said.
Proposed actions would disturb 7,584 acres, or about 4% of the total project area 20 miles south of Roosevelt, Utah, it added.
The updated appendixes now are available online at www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal/planning.html.
BLM is extending the comment period to give the public time to review the most current technical support documents, its Vernal field office said in a Nov. 16 announcement.
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
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