Judge Vacates Fracking Leases; Agency Failed To Consider ‘Substantial Evidence’

Mealey's (May 5, 2020, 1:57 PM EDT) -- GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana on May 1 vacated 287 hydraulic fracturing leases that were issued for land in Montana, ruling that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to consider “substantial evidence” of the risk fracking posed to groundwater and failed to consider the effect that fracking would have on the climate.  The judge remanded the issue to the BLM for further analysis (WildEarth Guardians, et al. v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, et al., No. 18-73, D. Mont.)....