August 15, 2012

U.S. Bureau of Land Management Attn: Mike Pool 1849 C Street NW, Rm. 5665 Washington DC 20240 Dear Acting Director Mike Pool: We are writing you today to urge your agency to protect Colorados water and continue to take a smart approach to oil shale. The technology behind oil shale development is unproven and could pose an unacceptable risk to Colorados water. No one knows just how much water would be needed for oil shale or what the full potential threat to water quality is in our state. However, one estimate provided by the Government Accountability Office says that industrial-scale oil shale development should it ever occur could require as much as 123 billion gallons of water. That is enough water for more than 750,000 households. Oil shale mining and processing can also leach toxic metals and pollutants into water such as selenium and arsenic. Colorado is already facing a water crisis from this years drought. The Denver Post reported that Weld County farmers are selling off cattle and that corn fields are dying. The Town of Ouray had to aggressively seek out new water sources to meet current demand, and the reservoir for the City of Steamboat Springs was troublingly low. We have to be smart about oil shale, or we risk the future of Colorados farms and ranches, the ability of municipalities to meet water needs for Colorado families, or having enough water in our rivers for recreational uses such as fishing and rafting. We do not have to choose between energy production and meeting our water needs if we take the right approach. We support the BLMs approach in the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for oil shale and tar sands. The oil shale industry should be required to conduct the necessary research prior to commercial leasing to prove that oil shale is economically viable and that it will not pose a dangerous risk to our drinking water, our agricultural industry, and our rivers. Sincerely,

Kevin McInerney Active Junky Denver Casey Hoffman Am. Rec. Products Boulder Chris Keeley Angler's All Fly Shop Littleton

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