April 26, 2001: Reach oil, gas drilling possible

Reach oil, gas drilling possible

This story was published April 26, 2001

By Les Blumenthal
Herald Washington, D.C., bureau

WASHINGTON - Interior Secretary Gale Norton refused to rule out the possibility of oil and gas drilling in the Hanford Reach and other national monuments during testimony Wednesday before a House subcommittee.

Under questioning from U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., Norton told the House Interior appropriations subcommittee that the administration had yet to decide what it would do about opening up some of the 21 monuments established by the Clinton White House to oil and gas exploration.

"We are at the very first stage of dealing with the monuments," Norton said, who added that oil and gas drilling will be one of the factors the Interior Department considers as it develops management plans for the Hanford Reach and the other monuments.

The U.S. Geological Survey, part of Norton's Interior Department, said in a report last month that there could be significant deposits of natural gas beneath the Hanford Reach. Washington has reported increased interest by drilling companies in the Columbia Basin.

Former President Clinton created the 195,000-acre Hanford Reach National Monument almost a year ago in an effort to permanently protect the stretch of the Columbia River and one of the region's most abundant salmon runs.

The USGS said in its report that the Reach was part of two geologic formations where large quantities of natural gas may exist. While the probability of undiscovered gas resources beneath the Reach was moderate, the potential volume of gas was large, the report said.

Chris Schenk of Denver, the USGS scientist who headed the study, said he thought it was possible that commercial quantities of gas would be found, and with the price of gas soaring, there was a strong push for exploration.

The report was requested by congressional Republicans upset with Clinton's use of the 95-year-old Antiquities Act to create the national monuments, many of them in the waning days of his administration.

Norton and others in the Bush administration also have been critical but have shown no signs of moving quickly to overturn the designations or modify the boundaries of the new monuments. Such action would require congressional approval.

"You are still in fact finding?" Dicks asked Norton about the possibility of gas drilling in the Reach.

"That is correct," Norton replied.

Norton said she has written to the governors, members of Congress and state and local officials of the states where the monuments are located asking for their advice on how best to manage the sites.

"We just can't jump in and instantly have plans for managing them," she said. "We've asked for their input on a number of things."

U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., said that even though input from local officials was important, "many have a real stake in those monuments even if they don't live near them. I don't need to be telling you this, we will be watching very closely."

Dicks, a member of the subcommittee, said after the hearing that it was clearly too early to tell what the administration would eventually do.

"We will follow this very closely," Dicks said. "We would prefer not to have exploration there (in the Reach)."

But Dicks did note there was a shortage of natural gas on the West Coast, and as demand has grown, the price for it has risen sharply.

"We have a problem with natural gas," he said, adding that the Hanford Reach may ultimately have to be explored. "I don't think we should rule it out."