Dec 31, 2008 - 04:05:26 CST
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A Bush administration official has approved a plan that would allow more than 18,000 natural gas wells to be drilled in southeastern Montana in coming years.Tuesday's decision by Stephen Allred, assistant secretary for land and minerals management, allows companies to proceed with plans to drill on more than 1.5 million acres of federal land in Montana's remote Powder River Basin.
The approval was delayed for more than three years. Conservation groups and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe successfully sued the Bureau of Land Management in 2005 to block the plan. They worried the drilling would foul water supplies and harm wildlife populations.
BLM officials say their latest plan will phase in drilling, meaning it could be halted if environmental problems arise.
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