Canyon oil-sands plans worry landowners

Private property owners in Whiterocks Canyon are about as different as the unique flora and fauna that grows on their forested lands 27 miles north of Roosevelt, but they have found common ground in their protest of plans by a Las Vegas-based energy company to strip mine the canyon's rich oil-sands deposits.

Last month, Black Sands Holding Co. sent notification letters to approximately 15 landowners outlining plans to exercise the mineral-lease rights the company has purchased from the privately held Whiterocks Energy LLC.

Alan Propp, senior engineer for Black Sands, said he wants those people with surface property rights to know that Black Sands Energy will be a "good neighbor" and will reclaim all the land that is disturbed, "under all applicable regulations."

Propp said the first item on the company's agenda will be to conduct core drilling on the private mineral leases after obtaining the proper permitting from the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining. Black Sands was formed 2 1/2 years ago, and the company's chief executive officer is Frank Glinton, who resides in Boulder, Colo.

Black Sands Energy Corp. is a joint venture partner with Nevtah Capital Management Corp. Korean investors are financing their exploratory work in Whiterocks Canyon and other sites to produce oil from oil sands to the tune of $29 million.

There have been rumors for decades that exploration for the rich oil-sands deposits in the canyon was imminent. So far, only rather benign core drilling has gone on from time to time. However, with oil prices around $62 a barrel and rising, those people who want to protect the canyon from an intrusion of widescale mineral extraction are organizing and examining their options.

Black Sands' notice of intent to explore "has been overwhelmingly met with shock and great alarm," Tammy Bostick-Cooper wrote in a nearly three-page letter to state and local officials. Cooper, writing on behalf of the Whiterocks Property Owners Association, addressed concerns that included the environment and aesthetics, as well as economic and legal issues.

Uintah County commissioners have heard nothing of the plans of Nevtah/Black Sands and have invited members of the property-owners association to meet with them next week, said Commissioner Darlene Burns.

Bostick-Cooper and her husband Lewis are one of three property owners who live in the canyon year-round. They moved there seven years ago to live "off the grid, gently on the land" on their 20 acres. Like many private-property owners in the canyon, their land is surrounded by Ashley National Forest in an area zoned for recreation, forestry and mining.

Bostick-Cooper said she isn't completely against energy development, but does want to ensure it is done right.