This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A federal judge will not reconsider the arguments of several rural Utah counties and large energy development companies who sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar over 77 withdrawn oil and gas leases.
U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Thursday denied a petition to rehear the case, saying the counties and companies had no new arguments, and that any arguments they could present now could and should have been made originally.
"A motion to reconsider is warranted when it is necessary to correct clear error or prevent manifest injustice," Benson wrote in his ruling. "The plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden for a proper motion to reconsider."
Uintah, Carbon and Duchesne counties fought the lease withdrawal alongside three winning bidders, Impact Energy Resources of Colorado, Peak Royalty of Utah and Questar Exploration and Development of Texas. The plaintiffs argued the federal government was required to issue the leases within 60 days of the Dec. 19, 2008, auction. Salazar withdrew the leases after determining they were in environmentally sensitive areas and were pushed through in the waning hours of the George W. Bush administration.
Benson in September ruled against the counties and companies, saying they had missed their 90-day deadline to file their complaint. The counties and companies, though, contested the date of the lease withdrawals.
The plaintiffs could still take their case to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.