Free Reply - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:00-cv-00379-REB-CBS

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Filed 12/12/2005

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO 00-cv-00379-PSF-OES SAN JUAN CITIZENS' ALLIANCE, SOUTHERN UTE GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION, Plaintiffs, v. GALE NORTON, Secretary, United States Department of the Interior; and the UNITED STATES BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, Defendants, and SOUTHERN UTE INDIAN TRIBE and AMOCO PRODUCTION COMPANY, Intervenors. DECLARATION OF DAN RANDOLPH IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' PETITION FOR REVIEW OF AGENCY ACTION

DECLARATION OF DAN RANDOLPH

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I, DAN RANDOLPH, do hereby state the following under penalty of perjury:

1. 2. 3.

I am over the age of 18 and have personal knowledge of the facts in this affidavit. I reside at 1846 County Road 207, Durango, Colorado 81301. I have consistently been a member of San Juan Citizens Alliance since at least

January 31, 1994. 4. I am employed as the Colorado Oil and Gas Organizer in the Durango, Colorado

office of San Juan Citizens Alliance (SJCA), a plaintiff in this action. 5. SJCA is a public interest organization whose mission is to organize for

environmental, social, and economic justice in the San Juan Basin of southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico. SJCA is a membership organization that has around 500 members, including many that live within the exterior boundries of the Southern Ute Reservation. 6. SJCA has been an active watchdog of Coalbed Methane (CBM) extraction

practices, operators, and oversight agencies, including the BLM, since the late 1980's, especially within the San Juan Basin of southwest Colorado. These activities are carried out by both paid staff and many active members. 7. SJCA has consistently used the Freedom of Information Act, participation in

NEPA, and other processes designed to promote public involvement in management of public lands, to educate the public about CBM activities. SJCA pursues reforms of CBM extraction practices and regulation through appropriate actions, including submission of public comments on proposed actions, and filing of administrative appeals and lawsuits where necessary. I have been personally involved in many of these activities as both paid staff and volunteer member. 8. SJCA has been active in seeking compliance with the National Environmental

Policy Act on both CBM related and other activities. I have been personally involved in many of these activities as both paid staff and volunteer member.
DECLARATION OF DAN RANDOLPH

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9.

As both staff and volunteer member of SJCA, I have participated in efforts to

protect and preserve the exact tracts of public land affected by the Secretary's ongoing oil and gas developments. I believe the Alliance brings this action on its own behalf and on behalf of its adversely affected members and staff. 10. I believe BLM's continued implementation of its expanding CBM production

activities through the adoption of downspacing decisions, approval of individual permits to drill, and use of environmentally harmful production methods, prior to completion of required programmatic NEPA analysis, denies the Alliance, and its members and staff, of the right to informed decision making and full disclosure under NEPA. Therefore, I believe the identified interests of the plaintiffs have been and will be irreparably damaged by BLM's continued failure to comply with NEPA. 11. In the course of my employment with SJCA, I participate in, encourage members

of SJCA and other members of the public to participate in, and utilize for general public education, the public participation components of NEPA analyses of BLM actions related to CBM development. Without these public participation components of NEPA analyses, my ability to participate as well as encourage others to participate in BLM's activities regarding CBM extraction, would be severely curtailed. 12. In the course of my employment with SJCA, I utilize the information disclosed

through the NEPA process regarding CBM extraction to educate the members of SJCA as well as the general public of the impacts to lands, waters, air quality, wildlife, soils, and other components of both public and private lands and values from CBM extraction. This educational effort has included local, regional and national newspaper, radio, television, and magazine coverage, as well as more direct education such as open-house meetings, public and private fora, direct mailings, and other efforts.

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13.

My ability to carry out the organizational mission of SJCA has been adversely

impacted by the denial of NEPA's procedural protections, hindering the Alliance's ability to carry out educational and scientific programs concerning social, environmental and economic justice issues in the San Juan Basin; to actively maintain and improve the quality of life in the San Juan Basin; to define and shape decisions on a wide variety of related issues; to promote participatory democracy in the San Juan Basin; and to maintain and promote a renewable and diverse economy. BLM's actions which are having adverse environmental impacts and which limit the choice of reasonable alternatives prior to completing the required NEPA process, preclude the Alliance, through its staff such as myself, members, and consultants, from properly carrying out its programs and watchdog activities which require ongoing monitoring of the BLM oil and gas program, particularly CBM production, in the San Juan Basin, and participation in the NEPA analysis of such actions. 14. The adverse environmental impacts which arise from the BLM's implementation

of its CBM production program in the northern San Juan Basin, without the benefit of required programmatic NEPA analysis, harm the plaintiffs' additional aesthetic, and recreational interests in the public lands and Southern Ute Indian Reservation lands impacted by the BLM's actions.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

Executed this 12th day of December, 2005 by Dan Randolph.

s/ Dan Randolph Dan Randolph

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