Home > Environmental Law Home > Lawsuits > Documents Reveal Bush Administration’s Secret Deal with Oil Exec; Lawsuit Filed to Protect National Parks

Sierra Club Lawsuits

Documents Reveal Bush Administration’s Secret Deal with Oil Exec; Lawsuit Filed to Protect National Parks

Case Updates:

June 24, 2005

The administration's assault on treasured national places continues apace, the latest move being an amendment to open up the Mississippi seashore to oil and gas drilling. Tempers are flaring as an unusual coalition of resort owners and beach lovers oppose drilling derricks on their coast.

See the Jackson Free Press article below.

December 1, 2004

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Bush administration has reversed a long-standing policy designed to protect national park areas from environmental damage during oil and gas drilling. The new rule came in response to a request from Texas-based Davis Brothers Oil Producers, Inc., allowing “directional drilling” in subsurface areas beneath parks without an environmental impact statement. The new policy does away with the strict environmental review required by the Park Service for decades. Moreover, the rule ties the hands of the National Park Service by preventing them from taking steps to protect the areas and mitigate damage. The secret deal bypassed the regular rule-making process, which allows for public input and transparency.

The rule opens up more than a dozen protected areas to relaxed rules for possible future drilling including Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, New River Gorge in West Virginia, and Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. After learning of the secret ruling, the Sierra Club filed suit to reverse the rule and right the wrong.

Details and Documents:

Coast Park Open to Drilling?
June 22, 2005, by Adam Lynch, Jackson Free Press

Read more about the affected areas and the background in our press release