“A U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) environmental analyst is “facing termination” for blowing the whistle on environmental concerns related to a “massive Wyoming oil and gas project,” according to a March 16 press release from nonprofit group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
PEER states that Walter Loewen “repeatedly stressed to the BLM’s leadership the high potential mortality from the Converse County oil and gas project.” The project is part of a “controversial BLM decision to approve a plan for 5,000 oil and gas wells, 500 miles of gas pipelines, 900 miles of water pipelines, new roads, and electrical lines in Converse County, Wyoming.” PEER notes that BLM analysts raised concerns that the project would “seriously degrade nesting sites of ferruginous hawks, kestrels, owls, and other raptors” — however, according to the press release, BLM “removed key restrictions on drilling and other work during bird breeding and nesting periods.””
