The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday issued an emergency injunction that halts the development of coal-bed methane (CBM) in the Montana section of the Powder River Basin while an appeal of the case is being decided.
The injunction, which was sought separately by the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe, the Northern Plains Resource Council (NPRC) and other groups, bars the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from approving any CBM production projects in the Powder River Basin of Montana, and enjoins Fidelity Exploration and Production Co. from drilling any additional wells in its Coal Creek Project, or from constructing any infrastructure to serve the wells.
The decision put the brakes on an April ruling of a federal magistrate in Billings, MT, which ruled that BLM could allow the drilling of up to 500 wells each year in a 450-square-mile section of Montana while the agency worked on the environmental impact study.
Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for September, with a decision expected in the fall, a spokeswoman for the NPRC said.
Uh my guess is because the EIS hasn't been writen and reviewed... Does it make sence to do a project before you figure out what you're going to fugg up?
