(Associated Press) SALT LAKE CITY – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on its draft study of a company’s proposal to significantly boost its gas and oil production in the Uintah Basin.
Newfield Exploration Co., Utah’s largest crude oil producer, would be able to add 5,750 new oil and gas wells over a 16-year period at an existing field under the plan.
The Deseret News reported the Monument Butte Project covers 120,000 acres near Myton, and would result in 170 miles of new roads and new pipelines in Duchesne and Uintah counties.
The BLM says its plan is the most restrictive for new oil and gas development across sensitive landscapes while still meeting project needs.
The agency will accept public comment on the plan through Feb. 4.
Southwest Earth First! 
My comment is that these companies should be required to remove CO2 gas from the atmosphere molecule by molecule. If they put CO2 into the atmosphere they should have a plan to remove it. THIS IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE
Underneath the American West are huge aquifiers of alkaline/salt water that can be pumped to the surface for evaporation by sunlight. This creates artificial rain. The rain increases vegetation in the deserts, and thus removes CO2. Key to this is rapid development of solar and wind technology for water pumping, especially since you need to drill down to sealevel to get at it. This geologic formation is below fresh water formations, so fresh water is not impacted.
Plus this underground water is not worthless, it contains many rare metals that can be electrolytically mine, thus helping to pay for the project.
These lakes, while salty, are not totally dead, they can grow wild algae, that can be farmed to make diesel fuel, replacing the need for mineral oil, with biodiesel.
These companies as part of their drilling plans should be required to also invest into Heliohydroelectric technology. It would increase the amount of fresh water in the region, but also remove CO2 from mineral exploitation, and eventually replace oil with biofuels.
Martin Nix