BLM Colorado: Public Has No Need to Know About Public Lands, Public Monies, Public Employees

Cross-posted from ColoradoPols

In a show of arrogance that has become too typical of the Colorado State Office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the agency is ignoring a Federal judge, media requests, stakeholders, and the public in denying public information about public activities on the public lands, according to the Durango Herald:

“This isn’t a widespread issue of public concern. It is primarily press that are concerned about oil and gas leasing and activists that are opposed to oil and gas leasing.”

The state ‘Communications Director’, one might assume, has the job as a public employee working on public lands issues and spending public monies, of informing the public and managing media relations.  The ‘press’ and public are–this common-sense assumption goes–the PRIMARY purpose of his receiving a Federal salary as a taxpayer-funded public employee.

But apparently not for BLM Colorado–where public information is no such thing, and the public and media are merely distractions from what ever other self-determined more important things, like defending illegal agency actions perhaps, or intentionally seeking to divide communities.

Colorado’s North Fork Standing Up

This particular matter has its roots in the BLM Colorado State Office’s reckless oil and gas leasing policy that willfully ignores local communities, other federal agencies, state wildlife officials, local businesses and the public, to lease whatever public lands secret industry representatives nominate.  This is despite Colorado having the oldest land use plans in the Mountain West, many dating back to the 1980s–like that that governs the public lands in the North Fork–most of which fail completely to properly account for, describe, consider or protect the resources and uses that exist or depend upon these lands today.

Citizens for a Healthy Community–a Delta County based conservation group–partnered with the Western Environmental Law Center to file lawsuit seeking the names of the nominators who put forward the contentious leases in that valley.  They won that suit.

Here is what the judge wrote:

“Competition in bidding advances the purpose of getting a fair price for a lease of publicly owned minerals,” Matsch wrote. “Moreover, the identity of the submitter may be relevant to the plaintiff and others who may raise concerns about the stewardship records of that potential owner, a factor relevant to the environmental impact of the proposed sale.”

So, a Federal judge acknowledges that sharing information on public lands and public minerals is in the public interest and orders the public employees at a public agency to release that (public) information.

And the senior staff at BLM Colorado Office responds, to paraphrase: Make us (again).

Following the judge’s decision and the BLM Colorado’s clear loss in court, others–including the Durango Herald–have now sought identical information regarding contentious leases in their communities.  Such as those surrounding Mesa Verde National Park opposed by the BLM’s own sister agency in the Department of Interior, the National Park Service.

Now, the Colorado State Office of the BLM, our public employees spending our public monies to manage our public lands and minerals, is refusing to release that information. Again.  Because, apparently its Communications Director has better things to do than communicate.

Maybe like spending more time in court defending the indefensible, losing more lawsuits, and greasing the skids for oil and gas in violation of what the Federal courts have found to be in the public’s interest.

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BP Confirms Identities of Three Employees Killed in Algeria

BP "with great sadness" on Monday confirmed the identities of three of its employees who lost their lives following the terrorist attack on the In Amenas joint venture gas facility in Algeria on Jan. 16.

"We are in frequent, close contact with the families of these employees and, with their consent, are able to confirm our colleagues’ identities," BP commented.

Those employees are:

Sebastian (Seb) John, 26

Seb John, from Nottingham, joined BP in September 2012, as a Civil & Structural Engineer. Seb was a member of the BP’s graduate development programme, and had recently joined the In Amenas joint venture team. He was on his first trip to Algeria.

"Without doubt, Seb was going to succeed” said Andy McEwan, a colleague from BP’s North Africa region. “He was definitely one of a kind when it came to work, as a character and as a person. There are no words that can describe how much Sebastian will be missed by us."

Seb was married to Nicola, with a young son.

Carlos Estrada, 44

Carlos Estrada, originally from Colombia, was living in London, and had worked for BP since 1995. Carlos was a vice-president with BP’s Upstream Global Projects Organisation and was visiting the In Amenas site to provide expertise on BP’s interests in projects in Algeria.

BP North Africa President, and friend of Carlos, Felipe Posada said: "Everyone loved Carlos, he was full of energy, passionate about what he did, incredibly smart and liked by everyone he met. He was a huge talent for the future. He was also a great personal friend of mine and of many others. I will greatly miss him as I know will very many people in BP."

Carlos was married to Claudia, with two young daughters.

Gordon Rowan, 58

Gordon Rowan, from Oregon in the U.S., was a Well Operations & Engineering Manager and had worked for BP and formerly ARCO since 1986. Having spent time at Algeria’s Rhourde El Baguel field, he had returned to the country to work at In Amenas after a period in China.

Mark Cobb, Gordon’s colleague, who was also involved in the incident, said of him: "He was respected by all of his colleagues for his openness, personal integrity and commitment to the safety of his people. He was a leader that people wanted to follow, leadership which he fostered though his commitment to the development of his staff. He lived the BP values and was a great reflection of BP within In Amenas."

Gordon had two sons, Dan and Richard.

A fourth employee is also feared to have lost his life in the attack. BP said it was unable at this time to comment on his identity.

Bob Dudley, BP Group Chief Executive, said: "This is confirmation of devastating news and our hearts go out to the families, friends, colleagues and loved ones of these men. We cannot imagine the grief of those closest to them but we know they are very much in the thoughts of so many people in BP. We will continue to do everything we can to assist and support them at this time. They were our colleagues and friends and we will remember them and honour their memory."

BP requests that people show consideration for the families of our colleagues and continue to respect their privacy.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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