US judge suspends sale of land slated for oil drilling

Thursday, Jan 22, 2009

A bid to sell off more than 100,000 acres of land near national parks in Utah for oil and gas drilling was halted by a federal judge at the weekend. The ruling, in response to a lawsuit filed by several environmental groups, suspends the sale of 77 parcels of land at an auction held in December.

The auction was seen by activists as an attempt by the outgoing Bush administration to deliver a last-minute gift to its allies in the oil and gas industry. The sale on December 19 in Salt Lake City drew attention after an activist managed to successfully bid at the auction for 12 parcels of land totalling 22,000 acres. Although the activist, Tim DeChristopher, had no money, he bid $1.79m. The government agency selling the land, the Bureau of Land Management, had threatened to sue him for bidding without cash in hand; DeChristopher said he had raised the necessary $45,000 from supporters to make the first down payment.