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Bank Of America Investment A project to explore the oil and gas potential of Utah's Nine Mile Canyon is expected to begin this fall or next spring, with seismic equipment spread over 57,500 acres of BLM land that contains numerous prehistoric Indian sites.

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Banc Of America Investment Sometime this fall or next spring, helicopters, vibrating "thumper" trucks and giant bubble-tired tractors could be traveling throughout 57,500 acres of federal land atop Nine Mile Canyon.

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Banking Investment Part of a proposed three-dimensional seismic exploration called the "Stone Cabin 3-D Seismic Survey Project," the vehicles and their operators would seek to pinpoint natural gas deposits in deep geologic formations 10,500 feet below the surface.

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Investment Solution Strategic The area, on the West Tavaputs Plateau about 30 miles northeast of Price, is believed to contain a fortune in fossil fuels, which the Bush administration is hoping to exploit on public lands throughout the Rocky Mountain region, including much of southeastern Utah.

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Investment Banking Services Nine Mile Canyon and its environs, however, also are home to numerous archaeological treasures -- American Indian rock art, mostly, but also pit houses, cliff dwellings and granaries.

Bank Investment Opponents of intensive oil and gas exploration have expressed concern that the sites could be harmed.

Alternative Investment Today in Salt Lake City, Ken Sanders Rare Books is sponsoring a photo exhibit and discussion on Nine Mile Canyon and the gas-exploration controversy. Representatives of at least two Indian tribes are expected to participate.

Online Investment Services Julie McGee, archaeologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Utah office, noted the Stone Cabin project would occur outside of the main Nine Mile Canyon, where most of the 1,000 known archaeological sites are located.

Accompany Essential Investment A total of 111 recorded sites are within the seismic project's boundaries. Each site will be avoided by 50 to 300 feet, depending on the site's sensitivity, McGee said.

Investment Company "We'll travel where we're supposed to," said Wayne Zavadil, environmental manager for Denver-based Bill Barrett Corp. (BBC), the project's sponsor. "BBC is committed to stay 300 feet away from any known structure."

Investment Management Solution The project calls for a series of "receiver" lines to be laid in a north-south pattern across the 57,500 acres, which are south of Nine Mile Canyon.

Investment Management Services "Buggy drill vehicles," large tractors with 3-foot-wide tires, would travel off-road and across the receiver lines, stopping every 314 feet to drill a 60 foot hole. The holes would be filled with 20 pounds of explosives that would be detonated to send shockwaves into the ground that are recorded by instruments along the receiver lines.

Guide Investment Stock Where the terrain is too steep or sensitive for the buggies -- such as in two wilderness study areas -- helicopters would be used to lower drills.

Investment Manual Solution In addition, Vibroseis, or "thumper," trucks would travel on existing roads, stopping occasionally to pound the ground to produce shockwaves.

Investment Stock The explosions and thumping are expected to cause significant disturbance to 11.5 acres of land, although about 200 additional acres of land would suffer some minor disturbance as a result of the off-road travel, said Mark Mackiewicz, the BLM's project manager.

Essential Investment Solution Archaeological and environmental issues are analyzed in an environmental assessment that was released earlier this month. A copy of the document can be viewed at http:// www.ut.blm.gov/stone cabin. Public comments, which can be submitted over the Internet, are due by Oct. 2.

Citicorp Investment Services Since it formed in early 2002, BBC has aggressively pursued gas projects in northern and central Wyoming and in eastern Utah.

Fool Guide Investment Motley The company, which to date has raised about $282 million in capital for its exploration, is hoping to cash in on the current high price of gas as well as the projected long-term demand, all within the more friendly regulatory climate surrounding the Bush administration.

Fidelity Investment Services BBC owns most of the oil and gas leases in the Nine Mile Canyon area, where it has invested about $12 million so far.

Investment Management In addition to Stone Cabin, the company is pursuing two other projects there:

Francisco Investment San * Replacing old pipelines to better serve about a dozen wells it has in production in the "shallow" fields, 6,500 to 10,000 feet deep. A new pipeline infrastructure also would serve another five wells the company recently drilled and is trying to bring into production, said Zavadil.

Mellon Investment Services Gas from the wells, which are mostly on the plateau above the main canyon, is piped down to a main line and compressor in Nine Mile Canyon. From there, the gas is fed into an interstate pipeline owned by Questar.

Finance Investment Zavodil estimated that about 600 billion cubic feet of natural gas exist in the shallow reserves. At recent market prices, that gas alone is worth $1.3 billion.

Investment Manual Science * Drilling 15 new wells. Nine of the new wells would be on BLM land, while six would be on state-administered school trust lands. Some federal roads on BLM lands would need widening to access the state lands.

Investment Advisory Services An environmental assessment of the federal lands component of the 15-well project is under way.

Advice Investment By Brent Israelsen
The Salt Lake Tribune - 9/11/2003

Topic: Public Lands

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