Interior said in its motion that Loewen was fired in November 2021 “based on his unacceptable performance and failure to follow instructions.”
But lawyers for the government watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which is representing Loewen, counter that Culver’s testimony will corroborate Loewen’s concerns about the oil and gas drilling project, and BLM’s questionable analysis of it.
Loewen has long argued that he was removed from the environmental impact statement (EIS) of the Converse County project, and later disciplined, because he raised concerns over the potential for widespread mortality of raptors and other wildlife from the project, violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws.
