Washington, D.C. — Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and Colorado U.S. Representative Joe Neguse called on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to conduct a full environmental review of the proposed Wildcat Loadout expansion project to account for the project’s potential impacts on Colorado’s water, land, air, and climate. The proposed expansion would increase the capacity of an oil transport facility near Price, Utah, and enable the shipment of an additional one billion gallons of waxy crude oil through Colorado and along the Colorado River.
“Given this project’s potential dangers, we urge BLM to conduct a full and robust environmental impact statement (EIS) that takes into account all the risks posed to Colorado, rather than a cursory environmental assessment (EA) of the proposed expansion,” wrote Bennet and Neguse in their letter.
The proposed Wildcat Loadout project would expand the facility’s capacity to ship waxy crude oil on trains that run for over 100 miles alongside the headwaters of the Colorado River, which supplies water for 40 million Americans, 30 Tribal nations, and millions of acres of agricultural land.
“Many Colorado communities have raised concerns about how the Wildcat Loadout expansion and the Uinta Basin Railway would increase oil train traffic and potential railway accidents that could harm water quality and wildlife, and enhance wildfire risk,” continued the lawmakers.
Bennet and Neguse have previously raised similar concerns about the proposed Uinta Basin Railway and highlighted its risks to Coloradans and to the entire Colorado River Basin. Last month, a federal court overruled the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) approval of the railway, and ordered a new environmental review of the project proposal.
“In light of the court’s decision, the BLM should not repeat the STB’s mistakes, and instead conduct a robust environmental review. The BLM cannot adequately account for potential harm from increased oil shipments through Colorado with an EA, given its lower requirements for public involvement and environmental analysis,” concluded the lawmakers.
In July 2022, Bennet and Neguse called on the Biden Administration’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to undertake an additional comprehensive review to determine whether previous environmental and risk analyses fully considered the effects of the railway project on Colorado’s communities, watersheds, and forests. In March 2023, Bennet and Neguse called on U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to suspend a decision on the Special Use Authorization for the project until a supplemental review was conducted in light of the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. That same month, Bennet, Neguse and Colorado U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper called on U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to consider not providing federal cost assistance to the project, and Bennet and Neguse urged U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator KC Baker to conduct a supplemental review of the project accounting for the risks to Colorado communities, water supplies, and environment, as well as its effects on climate change. In April, the lawmakers joined Colorado elected officials in opposing the proposed project during an event on the banks of the Colorado River in Glenwood Canyon.
The text of the letter is available HERE and below:
Dear Director Stone-Manning:
We write to share our concerns about the potential Wildcat Loadout expansion project’s effects on Colorado’s communities, water, land, air, and climate. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Utah State Office is currently evaluating this project, which would increase the facility’s capacity in Price, Utah. This would enable the shipment of up to an additional one billion gallons of waxy crude oil per year from Utah’s Uinta Basin through Colorado on an average of one two-mile-long train every day. These trains are proposed to run for over 100 miles alongside the Colorado River’s headwaters – a vital water supply for nearly 40 million Americans, 30 Tribal nations, and millions of acres of agricultural land. Given this project’s potential dangers, we urge BLM to conduct a full and robust environmental impact statement (EIS) that takes into account all the risks posed to Colorado, rather than a cursory environmental assessment (EA) of the proposed expansion.
A train derailment that spills oil in the Colorado River’s headwaters would be disastrous to our state’s water supplies, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation assets, and the broader Colorado River Basin. In addition, an accident on the train line further increases wildfire risk at a time when the West already faces historically dry conditions.
We previously have raised similar concerns regarding the proposed Uinta Basin Railway in Utah, which would ship up to 4.6 billion gallons of waxy crude oil per year through Colorado. Recently, a federal court overruled the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) approval of the project, which was based on a deeply flawed environmental and risk analysis, and ordered a new review. In light of the court’s decision, the BLM should not repeat the STB’s mistakes, and instead conduct a robust environmental review. The BLM cannot adequately account for potential harm from increased oil shipments through Colorado with an EA, given its lower requirements for public involvement and environmental analysis.
Many Colorado communities have raised concerns about how the Wildcat Loadout expansion and the Uinta Basin Railway would increase oil train traffic and potential railway accidents that could harm water quality and wildlife, and enhance wildfire risk. Please see attached letters from Eagle County, Colorado and the city of Glenwood Springs on the Wildcat Loadout expansion and from numerous Colorado local governments, organizations, and residents on the Uinta Basin Railway.
We urge BLM to prepare a full EIS that accounts for the full risks of the Wildcat Loadout expansion to Colorado’s communities, water supplies, and environment.
We look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.
Sincerely,