A federal judge has told the Bureau of Land Management to temporarily halt issuing new oil and gas drilling permits on nearly 120,000 acres of public land in Wyoming until after a review of environmental impacts is completed by mid-January.

The July 16 decision by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in Washington, D.C., is the result of a need to reassess the environmental impacts associated with a controversial lease sale held by BLM’s Wyoming office in June 2022.

Cooper didn’t toss out the leases entirely, but any permitting on those leases has paused for six months while BLM conducts its own environmental review of the land won for lease in the 2022 auction by several energy companies, according to a copy of Cooper’s ruling.

Ryan McConnaughey, a spokesman for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said that the ruling turned out to be a “good one” for the industry because conservation groups that challenged the lease sales in the 2022 auction wanted them tossed out completely.

Cooper ruled that this wasn’t necessary because several of the environmental assessments related to sage grouse, mule deer and groundwater protections were “minor technical issues” that were easy to overcome.

“These leases could provide significant revenues over the lifetime of the wells if they are drilled,” said McConnaughey of royalties and other fees that the state could collect from the drilling.

Cooper’s ruling comes on the heels of his March verdict, which found that the BLM had not adhered to the National Environmental Policy Act when it decided to auction the land for oil and gas development over two years ago.

NEPA is a cornerstone environmental law that requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions.

Siding With Wilderness Society

In siding with the Denver-based conservation group Wilderness Society and other organizations who brought the lawsuit against the BLM, Cooper highlighted that the federal lands management agency had not properly evaluated the potential environmental impacts of future drilling activities.

Cooper found that the agency failed to adequately explain how it considered the potential climate harms resulting from “greenhouse gas emissions produced by drilling operations.”

The conservation groups raised several challenges under NEPA and the Administrative Procedure Act to BLM’s assessment of the “foreseeable environmental impacts of future drilling on the leased parcels and explaining its decision to authorize a lease sale of this magnitude in light of its own estimates of the steep social costs from the projected greenhouse gas emissions,” according to the judge’s ruling.

The conservation groups said that BLM did not perform a “sufficiently granular analysis of impacts to groundwater and ignored the proven possibility that inadequate well casing or hydraulic fracturing near usable water sources may cause contamination,” according to the ruling.

Fracking involves fracturing formations in bedrock with a pressurized liquid to tap natural gas and oil deposits deep below the earth’s surface.

Cooper wrote that the BLM can’t approve new drilling permits on these leased parcels or authorize new “surface disturbing activities” until it completes its environmental review of the land by mid-January 2025.

The 120,000 acres that energy companies bid on in the 2022 auction are located in the obvious BLM territories throughout Wyoming, including the southwestern part of the state near Rock Springs, south of Pinedale in Sublette County and in the Powder River Basin area in Campbell and Converse counties.

Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.

CASPER — The death of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in Casper two months ago continues to complicate the Casper/Natrona County International Airport’s international service and trade zone opportunities.

Longtime agent John “Dale” Leatham, who provided customs services for 48 years in Wyoming, died in May. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service has not yet filled his position.

In the meantime, people and businesses who had normally used Casper as a destination for international travel or trade has had spotty service.

Since his death, customs clearances have been slowed at the state’s only international airport and a federal foreign trade zone application remains on hold.

The federal agency has been sending customs agents from Denver to fill in, but those fill-in agents have been sporadic, according to Airport Director Glenn Januska.

Januska said there has been a significant decrease in the number of aircraft cleared at the airport, but it’s hard to measure the number of planes that might have chosen to clear in Casper if service was fully operational. Under Leatham, the airport would clear nearly 500 airplanes a year.

“The customs office in Denver has been trying to send customs officers up to Casper when they can, understanding that they still have roles and functions in Denver,” Januska said. “So, we’ve had some coverage for the operation here, but certainly not to the extent that we had when Dale was here.”

A Financial Hit

From a revenue standpoint, the impact of reduced international landings translates to a loss of some money for private companies who sell aviation fuel at the airport.

Typically, an international flight arrives with fuel gauges depleted. The airport, which has a 30-cent fee associated with each gallon of aviation fuel sold, also is losing revenue from any flight that bypasses Casper for another entry point.

Januska said it’s impossible to know how many international planes have bypassed the airport, and not all flights choose to get fuel. The fuel fee also is not broken down between international or national flights, so providing a dollar amount in terms of impact is difficult.

Foreign Trade Zone

At Advance Casper, President and CEO Justin Farley said the loss of Leatham has slowed, but not stopped, plans for a foreign trade zone opportunity at the airport.

“We are going to lease a space out there and designate it a foreign trade zone for an international company that is looking to move here,” he said. “We had met with Dale, with this company, and we have been on pause since then.”

Farley said his understanding is that U.S. Customs is reviewing the trade zone application and that the process is still active, but questions remain as to who will fill Leatham’s position permanently and when.

“We’d like to know who is going to be there and gauge what their interest in their involvement in our (foreign trade zone area),” he said. “Dale was super unique and a fan of this company. (His loss) was tragic for his family and our community.”

Farley said the expectation is that a customs officer will still tour the company by the end of September or October to ensure that the foreign trade zone area would meet the requirements for additional security.

Advance Casper is moving forward based on its understanding that there will be a new permanent customs agent at some point.

Under the arrangement, Advance Casper would take care of the paperwork and reporting necessary for the foreign trade zone to operate and also provide some of the transportation required.

“Our hope is we prove that model out where Casper would be a great logistics hub,” Farley said.

He said in addition to Advance Casper’s work on behalf of the international company, another Casper company has its own separate application pending for a foreign trade zone.

“We are moving forward from the standpoint that these are active applications, and we absolutely need a customs agent,” he said. “In addition to all the people that (Leatham) cleared and used our airport for that purpose, we felt that as a community that it was super important to keep (the foreign trade zone) so they wouldn’t drag their feet and say everything will have to go through Billings (Montana) or Colorado, which we view as a real risk.”

A New Agent

Januska said U.S. Customs is aware of the importance of putting an officer in place.

His last email from the agency more than a month ago informed him that the task of selecting an agent belongs to the agency’s human resources. There is no firm timeline.

The customs official told Januska that the selection would likely happen within the month.

Once a candidate was selected, Januska estimated it would take another month before the officer moved to the region, which would put the new officer in position in mid-to-late September.

“We knew going into this that it was not going to be a quick process,” Januska said.

Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.

Some sun, some clouds and chances for rain in Wyoming on Thursday with heat and fire warnings in multiple locations. Breezy, hazy in several areas. Highs from the low 80s to near 106. Lows from the low 50s to near 70. 

Central:  

Casper:  Red flag fire warning from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Areas of smoke, slight chance of rain after 5 p.m., otherwise sunny and hot today with a high near 98 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly before midnight, a low near 68 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.   

Lander:  Slight chance of rain after 2 p.m., otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 90 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain and a low near 61.  

Jeffrey City:  Red flag fire warning from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Areas of smoke before 11 a.m., slight chance of rain after 2 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 92 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. Mostly cloudy and breezy overnight with a chance of rain, a low near 62 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph.  

Southwest:  

Evanston:  Chance of rain, otherwise mostly cloudy today with a high near 82 and mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain and a low near 54.

Rock Springs:  Areas of smoke before 8 a.m., chance of rain, otherwise partly sunny and breezy today with a high near 89 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly before 11 p.m., a low near 58 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.

Kemmerer:  Chance of rain, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 83 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly after 5 a.m., a low near 53 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

Western Wyoming:  

Pinedale:  Chance of rain, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly after 4 a.m., a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

Afton:  Rain likely, otherwise mostly cloudy today with a high near 83. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain and a low near 53. 

La Barge:  Chance of rain, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly after 4 a.m., a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

Northwest:  

Dubois:  Chance of rain, otherwise mostly cloudy and breezy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly after 5 a.m., a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Jackson:  Chance of rain, otherwise mostly cloudy today with a high near 83 and mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly after 5 a.m. and a low near 50.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park:  Chance of rain mainly after 2 p.m., otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 78 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly after 5 a.m., a low near 47 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

Bighorn Basin:  

Thermopolis:  Slight chance of rain after 1 p.m., otherwise increasing clouds and hot today with a high near 98 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Areas of smoke after 2 a.m. slight chance of rain mainly after midnight, otherwise mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 63.  

Cody:  Areas of smoke, a slight chance of rain after 1 p.m., otherwise mostly cloudy today with a high near 93 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph. Areas of smoke before 8 p.m., slight chance of rain before 10 p.m., otherwise mostly cloudy with a low near 63 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. 

Ten Sleep:  Slight chance of rain after 5 p.m., otherwise increasing clouds and hot today with a high near 98 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 2 a.m., a low near 66 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.

North Central:  

Buffalo:  Red flag fire warning from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Slight chance of rain after 5 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 99 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 2 a.m., a low near 66 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

Sheridan:  Excessive heat warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Red flag fire warning from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Widespread haze before 9 a.m., slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise increasing clouds and hot today with a high near 106. Chance of rain before midnight, otherwise mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 63.

Ranchester:  Excessive heat warning until 9 p.m. tonight. Red flag fire warning from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise partly sunny and hot today with a high near 104. Chance of rain before midnight, otherwise mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 63.

Northeast:  

Gillette:  Heat advisory in effect from 10 a.m. today until midnight tonight. Red flag fire warning in effect from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Widespread haze before noon, otherwise increasing clouds, hot and breezy today with a high near 102 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph. Slight chance of rain before midnight, otherwise mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 66 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

Sundance:  Red flag fire warning from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Widespread haze before noon, otherwise sunny today with a high near 97 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before midnight, a low near 67 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

Moorcroft:  Heat advisory in effect from 10 a.m. today until midnight tonight. Red flag fire warning in effect from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Sunny and hot today with a high near 104 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. Slight chance of rain before midnight, otherwise mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 66 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

Eastern Plains:  

Torrington:  Red flag fire warning from noon today until 9 p.m. tonight. Widespread haze, sunny, hot and breezy today with a high near 102 and wind from 15-20 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 66 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. 

Wheatland:  Red flag fire warning from noon today until 9 p.m. tonight. Widespread haze, sunny, hot and breezy today with a high near 100 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly cloudy and breezy overnight with a slight chance of rain before midnight, a low near 70 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

Wright:  Heat advisory in effect from 10 a.m. today until midnight tonight. Red flag fire warning in effect from noon today until 11 p.m. tonight. Slight chance of rain after 5 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 101 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. Slight chance of rain before midnight, otherwise mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 66 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

Southeast:  

Cheyenne:  Fire weather watch from noon today until 9 p.m. tonight. Widespread haze, sunny and hot today with a high near 94 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 61 and wind from 15-20 mph.  

Laramie:  Slight chance of rain after 4 p.m., otherwise widespread haze, increasing clouds and hot today with a high near 90. Mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before midnight and a low near 59.

Chugwater:  Red flag fire warning from noon today until 9 p.m. tonight. Widespread haze, sunny, hot and breezy today with a high near 96 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 67 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

South Central:  

Rawlins:  Slight chance of rain after 4 p.m., otherwise widespread haze, increasing clouds and hot today with a high near 93. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly before midnight and a low near 61. 

Saratoga:  Slight chance of rain after 4 p.m., otherwise widespread haze, mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 91. Chance of rain mainly before midnight, otherwise mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 56. 

Hanna:  Slight chance of rain after 4 p.m., otherwise widespread haze, mostly sunny and hot today with a high near 91. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before midnight and a low near 59.