intuitive cat
Jurassic Dust in my Bones
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2012
- Messages
- 402
Now, I know we try to shy away from political issues on this forum, but I felt that this is information that many of you really need to know considering how much many of us love the Escalante Canyons and Watershed.
I will start by giving a link to a .zip file (that i promise is safe and compressed by yours truly)
that contains a few letters, township maps, and other information about the current situation in Escalante, Utah.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kqnl3m5qm5u31bj/escalante%20fracking.zip
I received these digital copies of the information from a friend of mine who lives in Escalante.
The following was posted in the Escalante Facebook group when the situation came to light publicly.
I defer to it rather than trying to explain the situation myself.
(if the author has any issues with me posting this here i will gladly remove it upon notification from said author)
"Hi, Folks. I got this info. in my e-mail after hearing it from friends and hearing it discussed at City Council. I think it's time everybody learns about some changes that could come our way.
Fracking in Utah's Remote and Pristine Red Rock Desert?
Two weeks ago, employees from a company with offices in Pennsylvania and Colorado, Front Runner Seismic, showed up in Escalante, Utah, (pop. 800), and quietly went about their business, knocking on doors, offering contracts of various sorts—mineral leases, property access—ready for signature.
As the men made their rounds, the details slowly began to surface. They represent energy developer James K. Munn from Denver, Colorado. He’s after oil, and he believes there’s some to be had under our town. When specifically asked about fracking as a method of extracting oil, Munn’s representative, Patrick Barnes, gave this simultaneously ambivalent and clear answer: "We are not ruling it out."
Escalante is bordered on three sides by Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and on the fourth side by the Aquarius Plateau, which drains to the Escalante River. The only way in or out of town on paved roads is Highway 12 east through the Monument or west past Bryce Canyon National Park. Some of the property Munn has targeted borders Pine Creek and the Escalante River. The Escalante is one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the West.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has 750,000 annual visitors from around the world and is located in the heart of the monument and near several national parks.
Escalante, settled by Mormon Pioneers in 1875, has been politically and culturally divided since President Clinton designated Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996. It is a community reliant on agriculture and tourism. Water is scarce and sacred.
What we know:
Front Runner Seismic representatives claim testing will take place on private and public property before Christmas. They say they will test along roadway right-of-ways using vibration trucks in the small town lined with historic brick “pioneer” homes built with fragile sandstone foundations.
Neither Front Runner nor James K. Munn have applied for the permit required from the Utah State Office of Oil, Gas, and Mining to legally begin this work.
Neither Front Runner nor James K. Munn have an agreement with Escalante City to conduct testing. Nor have they contacted the Utah Dept of Transportation or Garfield County to the best of our knowledge.
Such testing can damage not only structures, but also private wells, and water and sewage lines.
What we don’t know:
Who owns the mineral rights under the property targeted by Munn. Many landowners in Utah do not own mineral rights under their property. Some are held privately, others are held by state or federal government entities or private companies or individuals.
How Munn expects to get water. We have been told by his representative they will either use brine water from drilling or haul water in. Neither of those two options seems logical in this remote and dry location, with Scenic Byway 12 being the only possible truck transportation route.
How Munn expects to move the resource out of town.
How or if Munn plans to protect our fragile water aquifers.
Outside City limits some landowners reportedly have already made agreements with the oil company representatives. For those who have not, please look at the check-list in the next Insider. Oil companies can be potentially be required to pay the cost of some of the damage caused by drilling. But they don't necessarily tell you of those costs before the contracts are signed and sealed."
Many people have already signed up, as is visible in the property maps which are included in the zipped folder. A major issue is that much of the property lies just outside of the Escalante Township but not within Federal Lands.
From what I have been told, the Township has already taken the necessary steps to ensure that Munn has to take the proper steps in terms of permitting at this point, so seismic exploration is temporarily on hold until the proper documents and procedures are followed.
I will start by giving a link to a .zip file (that i promise is safe and compressed by yours truly)
that contains a few letters, township maps, and other information about the current situation in Escalante, Utah.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kqnl3m5qm5u31bj/escalante%20fracking.zip
I received these digital copies of the information from a friend of mine who lives in Escalante.
The following was posted in the Escalante Facebook group when the situation came to light publicly.
I defer to it rather than trying to explain the situation myself.
(if the author has any issues with me posting this here i will gladly remove it upon notification from said author)
"Hi, Folks. I got this info. in my e-mail after hearing it from friends and hearing it discussed at City Council. I think it's time everybody learns about some changes that could come our way.
Fracking in Utah's Remote and Pristine Red Rock Desert?
Two weeks ago, employees from a company with offices in Pennsylvania and Colorado, Front Runner Seismic, showed up in Escalante, Utah, (pop. 800), and quietly went about their business, knocking on doors, offering contracts of various sorts—mineral leases, property access—ready for signature.
As the men made their rounds, the details slowly began to surface. They represent energy developer James K. Munn from Denver, Colorado. He’s after oil, and he believes there’s some to be had under our town. When specifically asked about fracking as a method of extracting oil, Munn’s representative, Patrick Barnes, gave this simultaneously ambivalent and clear answer: "We are not ruling it out."
Escalante is bordered on three sides by Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and on the fourth side by the Aquarius Plateau, which drains to the Escalante River. The only way in or out of town on paved roads is Highway 12 east through the Monument or west past Bryce Canyon National Park. Some of the property Munn has targeted borders Pine Creek and the Escalante River. The Escalante is one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the West.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has 750,000 annual visitors from around the world and is located in the heart of the monument and near several national parks.
Escalante, settled by Mormon Pioneers in 1875, has been politically and culturally divided since President Clinton designated Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 1996. It is a community reliant on agriculture and tourism. Water is scarce and sacred.
What we know:
Front Runner Seismic representatives claim testing will take place on private and public property before Christmas. They say they will test along roadway right-of-ways using vibration trucks in the small town lined with historic brick “pioneer” homes built with fragile sandstone foundations.
Neither Front Runner nor James K. Munn have applied for the permit required from the Utah State Office of Oil, Gas, and Mining to legally begin this work.
Neither Front Runner nor James K. Munn have an agreement with Escalante City to conduct testing. Nor have they contacted the Utah Dept of Transportation or Garfield County to the best of our knowledge.
Such testing can damage not only structures, but also private wells, and water and sewage lines.
What we don’t know:
Who owns the mineral rights under the property targeted by Munn. Many landowners in Utah do not own mineral rights under their property. Some are held privately, others are held by state or federal government entities or private companies or individuals.
How Munn expects to get water. We have been told by his representative they will either use brine water from drilling or haul water in. Neither of those two options seems logical in this remote and dry location, with Scenic Byway 12 being the only possible truck transportation route.
How Munn expects to move the resource out of town.
How or if Munn plans to protect our fragile water aquifers.
Outside City limits some landowners reportedly have already made agreements with the oil company representatives. For those who have not, please look at the check-list in the next Insider. Oil companies can be potentially be required to pay the cost of some of the damage caused by drilling. But they don't necessarily tell you of those costs before the contracts are signed and sealed."
Many people have already signed up, as is visible in the property maps which are included in the zipped folder. A major issue is that much of the property lies just outside of the Escalante Township but not within Federal Lands.
From what I have been told, the Township has already taken the necessary steps to ensure that Munn has to take the proper steps in terms of permitting at this point, so seismic exploration is temporarily on hold until the proper documents and procedures are followed.
