BISMARCK -- A hearing is set for June 23 to consider the state of North Dakota’s request to temporarily prevent a new federal fracking rule from taking effect.
North Dakota has filed a request for preliminary injunction against the Bureau of Land Management, seeking to delay implementation of the hydraulic fracturing rule until the court can review the challenge filed by North Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado.
The new fracking rule would take effect June 24. Federal lands, including the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, make up about 40 percent of North Dakota’s oil production.
Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem will attend the hearing.
“If the BLM rule is allowed to go into effect, the state of North Dakota could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in mineral royalties, and oil and gas development in the state will be disrupted and delayed,” Stenehjem said in a statement.
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In April, North Dakota intervened in a lawsuit against the BLM, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming.
The hearing to consider North Dakota’s request is scheduled for 9 a.m. June 23 in Casper, Wyo. The court also will consider separate requests from Wyoming and Colorado during the hearing.
