State issues conditional permit for tar sands development in Grand, Uintah counties
by Craig Bigler
contributing writer
22 months ago | 1327 views | 0 0 comments | 8 8 recommendations | email to a friend | print
The quest to become the first to develop tar sands for oil extraction in the United States may begin in Moab’s backyard. The state Division of Oil, Gas and Mining has conditionally approved an application from Earth Energy Resources, of Alberta, Canada, to develop a tar sands mining operation in Uintah and Grand counties.

The state agency will require Earth Energy Resources to post a $1.7 million reclamation surety bond, and told the company that it must comply with the regulations of “all local, state and federal agencies with jurisdiction over any aspect of the operator’s mining operations,” according to a letter from UDOGM to the Grand County Council.

That means a conditional use permit must be obtained from Grand County. A pre-application conference to discuss the Earth Energy project has been scheduled for April 27, according to Grand County Planner Kristine Killoy.

UDOGM recently came under fire for failing to notify Grand County of its action to approve the permit, but that issue appeared on Tuesday to have been settled.

The state agency sent a letter of apology to the Grand County Council for the error, explaining that Uintah County was notified but Grand was not, due to “oversight.” Grand County Engineer Mark Wright responded with a letter accepting the apology, county officials said.

UDOGM will accept comments on Earth Energy’s application until April 24. The efforts of Earth Energy to obtain a conditional use permit have prompted the question of whether or not the county council should comment, but council members Gene Ciarus and Bob Greenberg said they saw no point in doing so at this time.

But council member Chris Baird disagreed. He said tar sand issues might be even more significant than the issues of produced water disposal, as he recalled the county’s efforts to regulate that industry.

Baird volunteered to compose a comment letter for the council to consider at its next meeting on April 20.

Council members did not discuss the environmental impacts of the proposed development, which straddles the Grand and Uintah County border. On its website, Earth Energy states that its process “is a revolutionary and swift extraction process that uses little water and leaves behind no toxic chemicals or tailing ponds.”

A letter from county planner Killoy to UDOGM noted “impact concerns.” It lists nine “county specific considerations,” including traffic and road impacts, safety considerations, utilities and easements, noise, smell and visual impacts, drainage and water quality, monitoring/reporting requirements, and site reclamation.
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