New Mexico Navajo and rancher groups sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Wednesday over the agency’s authorization of nearly 10,000 new oil and gas wells in the San Juan Basin.
Energy companies are seeking to increase gas drilling on public lands in the United States amid growing demand for the fuel.
Last September, the BLM revised a resource management plan for the San Juan Basin that said the region could accommodate drilling for thousands of oil and gas wells over the next 20 years.
The Navajos, the largest Indian tribe in the United States, say land that BLM authorized drilling on is home to ancient burial grounds and traditional healing ceremonies.
A BLM spokeswoman said the agency had no comment on the suit.
In the face of protests by Navajo groups last October, the BLM halted any leasing or drilling activity in two small areas in the San Juan basin.
But plaintiffs, including the San Juan Citizens Alliance and New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council, say there are thousands of other cultural sites and ranch land that could be hurt by drilling.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., charges that the new wells would require 1,000 miles of new roads on or around native American sacred sites.
“Our complaint is that BLM failed to adequately consult with the Navajo people,” said Rena Murphy, Secretary of the Pueblo Pintado chapter of the Navajo people.
Background on the lawsuit is online at http://www.sanjuancitizens.org.
