Who Owns the Fracking Forests?
This week marks the continuation
of a recent federal program to lease mineral rights in National Forests for fracking
or the hydraulic fracturing of gas-bearing shales. From 2011 to mid-2012, the federal government has
leased or scheduled for auction more than 350,000 acres of shale gas mineral
rights. The Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) had planned this week to lease more than 90,000 acres of
public land in 4 southern states (Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas)
but the leasing of nearly 40,000 acres of Forest in Alabama has been postponed
due to local protests. The remaining 50,000 acres will be auctioned off on Thurs,
June 14, 2012 despite holding no public hearings and only minimal federal
notices. Although leases for private lands have gone for thousands of dollars
per acre, previous public land auctions have yielded bids averaging only about
$40 per acre with rentals at a mere $1.50 per acre per year for 10 year leases
with extensions for gas production. For these paltry prices, the companies will
be allowed to use all the freshwater they need and will be expected to reinject
all the polluted water and chemicals they produce. Of course, reinjection of
fracking waters in disposal wells has recently been shown to be associated with
earthquakes even in states where earthquakes are rare.
http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/es/og_sales.Par.52362.File.dat/June%202012%20Final1.pdf. Some of the proposed leases are adjacent to
scenic rivers and streams and recreational campgrounds. So it seems that the
oil and gas industry and the BLM Eastern Division see no limits to this
development activity. This means that the informed public like you will have to
ultimately determine who owns the Fracking Forests.
For further information see my website at www.haveyoubeenpoisoned.com
David Lincoln
Enviro-Health Tracs
June 2012
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