The Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club, Earthworks, the Conservation Colorado Education Fund, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and Western Resource Advocates yesterday asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming to allow them to intervene as respondents in two lawsuits that seek to block the new fracking rule. An industry suit contends that Interior's Bureau of Land Management failed to consider steep compliance costs, while a challenge from affected states says the agency overstepped its authority in crafting the regulations.
The years-in-the-making rule, which regulates well construction, wastewater management and chemical disclosure for fracking on public and tribal lands, has elicited disappointment from environmental groups since its unveiling in March, with advocates calling it a missed opportunity to fully protect public lands. But the groups pushing to join the litigation say the last thing they want is a legal rebuff of the rule that sends regulators back to the drawing board.
"We would have liked to see BLM go further with these rules, but they nevertheless are an important step in the right direction," Western Resource Advocates President Jon Goldin-DuBois said in a statement. "They promise to reduce the number of chemical spills, groundwater contamination and other accidents."
Pete Maysmith, executive director of Conservation Colorado, added that winning the lawsuits is critical to protecting federal agencies' power over development of public lands.
"Most important in this case is that the clear authority federal agencies have to oversee heavy industrial oil and gas activities on our public lands is maintained, if not further strengthened," he said in a statement.
The environmentalists' involvement in the case may also keep regulators from compromising with industry and weakening the restrictions, said Earthjustice attorneys representing the groups
Read more at Enviros Jump into Fracking Rule Litigation -- on Government's Side
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