Under a collaborative agreement, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has obtained a favorable final environmental impact statement (EIS) from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its long-pending 10-year natural gas development plan to develop natural gas in Utah’s Uintah Basin.

The Woodlands, TX-based exploration and production company wants to drill 3,675 gas wells on 1,484 pads in an existing gas field on federal lands (see Daily GPI, June 10, 2011). The final EIS resulted from an agreement between Anadarko, BLM, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), environmental groups and Native American tribes. Once a public comment period is concluded in early May, BLM expects to issue a final decision on the project later this year.

“The Greater Natural Buttes project demonstrates that by working cooperatively with stakeholders, we can deliver the significant, long-term economic benefits of these resources in a manner that protects air and water quality, wildlife, etc.,” said Anadarko’s Brad Miller, general manager for regulatory affairs.

The cooperative agreement is similar to one completed two years ago with Bill Barrett, which allowed gas drilling in a portion of the Uintah Basin (see Daily GPI, July 30, 2010).

The EIS for Anadarko’s designated preferred alternative in BLM’s EIS covers about 8,147 acres of the nearly 163,000-acre Greater Natural Butte project area. The total disturbed land would be kept to a little more than 20,000 acres, or 12.7% of the overall project area.

In addition to the BLM’s conditioned EIS approval, Anadarko and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance on Monday reached a tentative agreement that — given the preferred alternative for the project — would protect the White River area and still allow Anadarko the access it needs to the region’s energy resources.

Larry Crist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Utah field supervisor, called the EIS “an excellent example of our efforts to achieve a balance of development and conservation. The USFWS was helped by “the collaborative effort between BLM and Anadarko.”

EPA Region 8 Administrator Jim Martin also praised the EIS, noting that the parties had “worked closely to address environmental and public health concerns, including measures that will protect air quality. Anadarko’s project is a great example of a domestic energy project with essential safeguards.”

Last year Anadarko subsidiary Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Onshore and EPA also launched a best practices plan in the area to reduce air pollution from drilling under an agreement that allowed the number of proposed wells drilled in the basin to nearly double (see Daily GPI, June 10, 2011). At the time, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the nation needed to “find sensible ways of allowing natural gas development to move forward [while] at the same time protecting air quality.”

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