"Court Flips Ruling, Tosses All Claims Against Chaco Drilling"

"Environmentalists were hit with a gut punch yesterday when a federal judge walked back his previous conclusion that some oil and gas development near Chaco Canyon, N.M., violated federal law.

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico issued an opinion yesterday rejecting a full suite of claims raised by environmental groups opposed to oil and gas drilling on public and tribal lands near Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

"All of those individuals who visit those historic sites might be inconvenienced, or their experience might be less enjoyable, but that harm does not outweigh the potential hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of economic harm the operators will endure," Judge James Browning wrote."

Ellen M. Gilmer reports for EnergyWire April 24, 2018.