This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Denver-based energy exploration company is proposing to drill 750 natural gas wells on Utah's West Tavaputs Plateau near Nine Mile Canyon, a request that could trigger new battles over an area revered for its ancient Indian rock art and rugged beauty.
Bill Barrett Corp., which created a furor among conservationists when it received permits in 2002 to drill 38 wells on about 89 square miles on the back side of the remote Book Cliffs, now is pursuing "full-field development" of the Stone Cabin and Peters Point gas fields. The development on the border of Carbon and Duschesne counties would encompass 137,000 acres, or about 215 square miles, and could yield 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
The company notified the U.S. Department of the Interior in May of its intent, and now is working with Interior to craft a plan that could be published in the Federal Register by the end of the summer. That would kick off an environmental review process that could take three years, said Fred O'Ferrall, associate manager of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Price field office.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which sued unsuccessfully to postpone the earlier drilling until a full environmental review could be done, said Bill Barrett's new proposal proves what the environmental advocacy organization told the court and the BLM: Despite assurances that seismic studies conducted a year ago were only for 38 wells, the company knew full well it would be pursuing a much larger development.
"This is what we talked about a couple of years ago in trying to [convince] the agency to do a comprehensive review . . . to look at what Barrett was contemplating for the future," said SUWA attorney Steve Bloch.
"I don't think there's any doubt this project, even if it's only partially completed, is going to fundamentally and radically change the nature of this area from an area that families like to visit . . . into an industrialized facility," Bloch said.
The project area overlooks two redrock wilderness study areas, Jack Canyon and Desolation Canyon. The National Trust for Historic Preservation last year listed Nine Mile Canyon as one of the nation's 11 most endangered historic sites, and is now working with the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition to get the region placed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Barbara Pahl, a spokeswoman for the National Trust in Denver.
The National Trust is pushing Bill Barrett to find a way to get to its drilling sites without driving the gravel road known as the Nine Mile Canyon National Backcountry Byway that winds through the canyon between Myton and Wellington, Pahl said.
O'Ferrall said the new proposal would require a "full-breadth" review.
"This is an intensive, rigorous analysis," he said. "It's the highest type of analysis because of the identified or possible impacts on the lands."
The Price BLM office a year ago determined after consultation with area tribes, the state Historic Preservation Office and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that drilling 38 wells wouldn't have significant impacts on public land.
SUWA, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Nine Mile Canyon Coalition were among those who fought the Barrett proposal, calling it a textbook example of the failings of President Bush's 2001 call to expedite oil and gas exploration on public lands.
A federal judge disagreed, saying there was no legitimate reason to halt the project.
Duane Zavadil, Bill Barrett's vice president for government and regulatory affairs, said his company has proven its commitment to protect Nine Mile Canyon's unmatched cultural resources, which includes more than 10,000 American Indian rock-art images, stagecoach stations and pioneer settler cabins emblematic of the Old West.
The company buried its gas lines and located drilling sites so they couldn't be seen from Jack Canyon. Zavadil said Bill Barrett spent $250,000 on archaeological site inventories and paid to rebuild the canyon road where it passes some of the canyon's most remarkable and accessible ancient Indian art, including one called the Hunter Panel in Daddy Canyon, which intersects with Nine Mile below the long climb up to the West Tavaputs Plateau.
The company regularly grades the gravel road rather than waiting for the state or county to do the work, which helps its exploratory operations while also making it easier for tourists to enjoy the canyon, Zavadil said. And Bill Barrett promises to remove graffiti from the petroglyphs in Rasmussen Cave, adjacent to the Hunter Panel site.
The cave came with a parcel of private land the company bought for a compression station where Bill Barrett's gas is readied for the Questar pipeline. Bill Barrett originally proposed to build the station on federal land, but decided a required three-year environmental review would be unacceptable.
The large building, which houses huge fans whose noise echoes off the canyon walls, can be seen and heard from the Daddy Canyon trail head and interpretive site, one of BLM's best. Bill Barrett plans to camouflage the building with stucco painted the colors of the redrock sandstone, but "you'll always be able to hear it. You can't make it silent," Zavadil said.
Moving the road a bit farther from the rock art protects it from possible vehicle damage. But big trucks and semitrailer trailers still make hundreds of trips past it each week, kicking up dust and trailing diesel exhaust and noise. It isn't safe for visitors, Pahl said.
Zavadil acknowledged the dirt and gravel road that winds up to the plateau wasn't built to carry the kind of traffic it is seeing, and isn't properly maintained.
"You put an 80,000-pound vehicle up these hills, you'll tear up the road in five passes," Zavadil said, adding trucks veer off the road "several times a year."
Bill Barrett was rapped last year for laying pipe in Nine Mile Creek without a stream alteration permit. After an investigation by four state and federal agencies, the company now gets proper permits and monitors its effects on stream sediments, according to a report compiled by state Division of Water Quality chief Walt Baker at The Tribune's request.
Bloch is concerned that such a large project area guarantees more people will learn about Nine Mile Canyon's extraordinary archaeology, which could lead to more site looting.
But O'Ferrall noted the area has been drilled for 50 years. And Zavadil said Bill Barrett wants to spend a half-million dollars on protecting the Nine Mile Canyon's cultural resources.
Zavadil said his company, which issued public stock in January, needs to take care to earn investor and public trust.
"We operate a lot on federal land," he said. "You may have a lease, but your permission to operate will be based on the public accepting you being there."