Environmental Groups Sue to Terminate Colorado Oil, Gas Leases

The US Bureau of Land Management improperly denied environmental groups’ petitions seeking an acknowledgment that 22 federal oil and gas leases in Colorado have expired or terminated, the groups said in a new lawsuit Thursday.

The complaint filed in the US District Court for the District of Colorado says the leases in the Pilot Knob, Huntsman Ridge, and South Shale Ridge areas have been on the books for more than two decades even though the leaseholders haven’t brought them into production.

Under the federal Mineral Leasing Act, such leases should automatically expire after 10 years unless the lessee has begun ...