BLM Ely District office seeking comments on exploration oil well

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The BLM Ely District office announced it is seeking public review and comment on the Murphy?s Gap APD Well No. 14-23 Preliminary Environmental Assessment. The 15-day comment period ends Oct. 15.

The site-specific EA analyzes potential impacts that could occur from a proposal by Makoil, Inc. to drill an exploration well on a valid existing lease located two miles within the Basin and Range National Monument in Coal Valley, about 17 miles northwest of Hiko. Hydraulic fracturing is not proposed.

Makoil, Inc. produces and explores oil and natural gas in Nevada and Texas. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in Lake Forest, California.

BLM Ely District Manager Mike Herder said Makoil is ?wanting to do some exploratory work out there.? He did not say, though, what his own feelings were about possibly having oil exploration or oil production take place in the monument area. ?We are just doing the environmental assessment to see whether the effects from their operations would be significant to the environment.?

The Murphy?s Gap APD Well No. 14-23 Preliminary EA is available for public review at http://1.usa.gov/1Kixaku.

Interested individuals should address all written comments to the BLM Caliente Field Office, P.O. Box 237, Caliente, NV. 89008. Comments may also be submitted via email with the subject, ?ATTN: Murphy?s Gap Well 14-23? to [email protected].