Conservation groups and an asthma organization are suing the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), challenging the government agency’s decision “to continue approving drilling permits for new oil and gas wells on public land” in the San Joaquin Valley.
The complaint, filed February 5, 2025, challenges the December 2024 approval of an additional 25 permits for Holmes Western Oil Corporation to drill new oil wells in Maricopa and the January 2025 approval of four additional permits for Chevron to drill new oil wells, also in Maricopa.
The complaint alleges that BLM did not account for the “cumulative impacts” of the oil and gas well approvals on nearby communities and the environment and unlawfully divided them among multiple smaller permit packages, obscuring the larger harms of the approvals. It also alleges that the BLM did not provide for “meaningful input from the communities most impacted” by the permitting decisions.
The complaint alleges that the approvals violate BLM mandates under the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the Mineral Leasing Act. It also alleges that all of the new wells violate SB 1137, which bans drilling within 3,200 feet from homes, schools and businesses.