Posted on 04/19/2002 3:58:38 PM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit Thursday to stop oil and natural gas drilling on the Padre Island National Seashore.
The complaint against the U.S. Department of the Interior, filed in federal district court, seeks to halt heavy truck traffic that the environmental group alleges will threaten the endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, which nests on the seashore.
In addition to naming Interior Secretary Gale Norton as a defendant, the Sierra Club also named the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The suit involves a natural gas well projected managed by BNP Petroleum, a Corpus Christi company. Scott Taylor, BNP's vice president of land and regulatory affairs, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
"I can't comment on anything I haven't seen," Taylor said.
'Halt to the truck traffic'
The Sierra Club is opposed to drilling in any national parks, said Fred Richardson, a spokesman for the environmental organization's office in Austin. In this case, the organization contends that the truck traffic could harm the endangered turtle's nesting. The turtle's nesting season began in April, according to the lawsuit. The organization is seeking a court injunction to cease the work until an environmental study is done, Richardson said.
"We are asking for a halt to the truck traffic and the drilling until the park service goes back and does an impact study on the turtles," Richardson said.
The safety of the turtles was not addressed in the application, Richardson said. He questioned whether the park service could say the turtles nesting on the seashore would not be harmed by the drilling.
"We suspect that is part of the reason they left it out in the first place," Richardson said.
Ken McMullen, chief of science and resources management at the Padre Island National Seashore, said he could not comment on the lawsuit but said the park service determined drilling would have a minimal impact on the sea turtle.
"It was our finding, and that of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, that based on the number of sea turtles we get and the methods we use to protect the species, we don't see an adverse impact," McMullen said.
'At a legal standstill'
In the last 20 years, 11 nests were the most nests found in any one year, McMullen said. Last year, there were two or three nests.
Park service volunteers drive along the beach 10 hours every day, looking for turtles, McMullen said. Also, big rig drivers must drive at a slow speed - 15mph - with a trained escort in a lead vehicle looking out for nesting turtles, McMullen said.
The Sierra Club is seeking a permanent injunction against the drilling, Richardson said, until the park service studies the impact of the truck traffic during the turtle's nesting and hatching season. Richardson said he doubts the park service can show a minimal impact.
"If they can't establish that they can create a program of protection for the turtle with heavy truck traffic, you are at a legal standstill," Richardson said. "The burden is on the park service to demonstrate that the two can be done at the same time."
The issue of drilling for natural gas in the national seashore was a hot topic during the Democratic primary election for Texas Senate District 20. State Rep. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa defeated attorney Barbara Canales-Black, who is part owner of BNP Petroleum.
Hinojosa could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Are SAUDIS funding Enviro Groups and Dem Senators against ANWR? You bet they are.
It's all very tricky and confusing. Lots of ignorance, lots of positioning. I told you about Daschle's deals on gas pipelines from there... I suspect Saudi, oil companies that would not profit, the Sierra Club (same thing) are dangling a lot of carrots to confused congresspersons - but I don't know. I don't think it's all over, but it has a slimy feel to it.
When Club Sierra and other enviralists and their senators like Tommy Da$$hole prevent us from drilling for oil in the USA, who benefits from this action:
1. The American People
2. The American Economy
3. The Opecker Princes who control Opec
4. The enviralists like Club Sierra because of #3
The answer is quite simple students. It is #3 and #4. The American people and our economy which suffer from these actions to keep us more dependent upon Opecker Oil.
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