Oil shale is a sedimentary rock. When heated to extreme temperatures, oil shale can be converted into liquid petroleum. photo © CEC

The Piceance Basin in western Colorado is blessed with one of the most abundant and diverse wildlife populations in North America, so that both wildlife watchers and hunters alike can enjoy animals such as elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and mountain lions. The area is home to one of the largest migratory deer herds in the nation and one of the largest elk herds in the world. The Piceance is also critical winter range to a number of wildlife species, and home to many migratory birds. In addition, the White River -- located in the heart of the Piceance itself -- is habitat for several endangered fish, including native Colorado cutthroat trout.

In the midst of this national wildlife and scenic treasure, energy development is occurring at an unprecedented rate. However, the threats to wildlife habitat and other traditional values in the Piceance Basin from oil and gas must be considered while planning for the future of this landscape. CEC is committed to ensuring that the needs of wildlife and local communities are balanced with goal to make sure these activities can take place. Please help us on our mission to maintain this treasure for future generations

Click here to read more about oil shale and the mining and retorting process.

The vast oil shale resources of Colorado's Piceance Basin are no secret. Discovered over a hundred years ago, they have seen several failed attempts at exploitation, due primarily to prohibitive costs and unresolved technical issues. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, a flurry of excitement about full-scale oil shale development sparked rapid and ill-considered investment, and when the boom broke down in 1982 on day still known to locals as "Black Sunday," it left behind a shattered economy that has taken over a decade to rebuild. Now, after decades of relative inactivity, high gasoline prices have led Congress to put the chase for oil shale back on a fast track. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 required the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to examine the feasibility of providing leases for commercial sale as early as 2008.

It is vital to note that oil shale industry research and development (R&D) activities currently under consideration will barely have begun, and the full range of environmental and social impacts of any development cannot possibly be known by this early date. Thoughtful, cautious R&D efforts must bear fruit before a federal government agency holds a commercial lease sale, setting the stage for another oil shale boom that could again go bust. The agency and the public need to be assured that the technology works, and that the proposed development will not have unacceptable impacts on the environment or Western Slope communities before we embark upon a full-scale commercialization program.

Based on research in the field, and from experience with other energy development programs and several failed rounds of attempted oil shale development, the following potential effects of full-scale, commercial oil shale development warrant serious concern:

Oil Shale Would Affect Valuable Water Supplies
Oil shale development uses vast amounts of water. Mining and retorting oil shale can require up to five barrels of water for the production of just one barrel of oil; this in one of the West’s most arid regions. Shell Oil Corporation, currently advancing its experimental method of heating the shale in place, acknowledges that water use for their in-situ method is significant, and that water supplies are likely to be a limiting factor.

Oil Shale Would Require Huge Amounts of Energy
Extracting oil from rock requires massive amounts of energy. A 100,000 barrel-per-day oil shale operation using Shell’s in-situ conversion technology would require 1,200 megawatts of electricity. That much energy would require the construction of a new power plant as large as any currently operating in Colorado, big enough to serve a city of 500,000. Such a power plant, costing about $3 billion, would consume five million tons of coal each year. To produce one million barrels of shale oil a day (as has been projected) would depend on the output of ten new power plants and five new coal mines.

Oil Shale Would Cause Serious Air Pollution
All of the areas primed for oil shale development currently enjoy relatively pollution-free air. But fossil fuels are burned to produce the energy needed to refine shale oil, and these huge energy demands lead to significant emissions. The mining and processing of shale itself produces numerous toxic pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and particulates, which can also cause severe health impacts, create acid rain and add to global warming. The power plants required for a million-barrel a day industry would release 35,000 tons per year each of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, and more than 105 million tons of carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.

Oil Shale Would Eliminate Valuable Wildlife Habitat
Elk, deer, and aquatic species -- including native fish -- could be seriously impacted by a full-scale commercial oil-shale industry. BLM has estimated that large-scale oil shale development would result in the permanent loss of BLM stream fisheries. BLM also found that water disruptions would result in the loss of up to 35% of Colorado River cutthroat trout fisheries. Oil shale would also doom up to 11% of available nest and brood range for blue and sage grouse to long-term, potentially unrecoverable loss.

Even industry itself admits that they have yet to identify an economically feasible technology to extract oil shale on a commercial level, and there are still no guarantees that such development can take place in an environmentally responsible manner. It is critical that industry and the BLM proceed slowly and identify all social and environmental impacts as well as ways to mitigate them, before we make a decision on whether commercial oil shale production is an appropriate choice for Colorado's future.