Judge Lets Fracking Operator, Utah Intervene In Federal Leasing Dispute

( May 14, 2024, 2:35 PM EDT) -- SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah has ruled that the state and Anschutz Exploration Corp. (AEC), an oil and gas exploration company, can intervene in a lawsuit brought by an environmental group against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its decision to sell 145 leases for hydraulic fracturing on approximately 215,325 acres of public lands in Utah, which the group says was done “without fully and adequately analyzing the environmental and public health impacts” of the decision....