Lawsuit challenges sale of Nev. oil and gas leases
By Sean Whaley, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Two environmental groups on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s June sale of oil and gas leases in Northern Nevada.
On June 14, the BLM offered nearly 200,000 acres of public lands in Nevada’s Battle Mountain district for fossil fuel development, including hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.
The lawsuit filed in Las Vegas by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club argues the BLM failed to consider the potential consequences of oil drilling in the area, from contamination of critical desert water sources to emission of climate-altering greenhouse gases.