Appeals court denies request to halt drilling in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE — An effort to temporarily halt drilling across part of one of the nation's largest natural gas fields has been rejected by a federal appeals court, leaving environmentalists to push their case against hydraulic fracturing in district court.
A coalition of environmental groups sued the Bureau of Land Management in 2015, accusing the agency of failing to study the effects of fracking on local communities, the area's cultural resources and the environment as it approved dozens of drilling permits in the San Juan Basin.
They sought a court order to stop drilling while their case is heard.
In a decision issued this week, a panel with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a lower court and found that the groups failed to make their case for temporarily halting drilling.
Read more: http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2016/10/28/appeals-court-denies-request-halt-drilling-new-mexico/92907062/