Post report on Roan dispute omitted McInnis' energy-industry ties

Summary: Reporting December 20 on "friction" between Colorado U.S. senators Ken Salazar (D) and Wayne Allard (R) over drilling on the Roan Plateau, an online Denver Post article stated that Allard released a letter in which former Republican U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis "support[s] Allard's positions." However, the article omitted that McInnis is a lobbyist on energy issues and that one of his reported clients has said it will consider drilling on the Roan.

In a December 20 online article about a dispute between Colorado U.S. senators Ken Salazar (D) and Wayne Allard (R) related to energy exploration on the Roan Plateau, The Denver Post reported that in a letter to Allard, former Republican U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis -- along with former Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell -- "support[s] Allard's positions." The article did not mention that McInnis is a lobbyist on energy issues for Hogan & Hartson or that the Canadian energy firm EnCana Corp. -- which has expressed interest in leasing public land on the Roan -- reportedly has been one of his clients, as Colorado Media Matters has noted.

The Post reported that "Salazar has blocked" an Allard bill that would "force the government to give Colorado part of the revenue from existing gas leases on the Roan," further reporting that Salazar has said "he prefers to handle the money issue in legislation also addressing future drilling and the price of drilling leases." The Rocky Mountain News had reported on December 8 that Salazar said he would not support Allard's proposal "unless Allard supports [Salazar's] one-year moratorium on drilling atop the Roan and also a slowdown in commercial leasing of oil shale resources."

On December 20, Allard released the letter in which McInnis and Campbell thanked Allard for his "recent work to support natural gas development within the boundaries of the Naval Oil Shale Reserves lands," which is what the Roan previously was called, according to the Post. As the non-bylined article reported, McInnis and Campbell sponsored legislation in 1997 to transfer authority over that land from the U.S. Department of Energy to the federal Bureau of Land Management.

From the article "Campbell, McInnis join fight against Salazar," published December 20 on The Denver Post's website:

Friction between Colorado's two U.S. senators over the Roan Plateau escalated Thursday as senior Sen. Wayne Allard enlisted others to indirectly scold junior Sen. Ken Salazar.

Allard, a Republican, released a letter in which former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and former Rep. Scott McInnis, also Republicans, support Allard's positions.

Salazar, a Democrat, said Allard and the others are "dead wrong."

The dispute centers around how much energy exploration should happen on the Roan, and legislation Allard authored dealing with exploration already taking place.

Allard wants to force the government to give Colorado part of the revenue from existing gas leases on Roan, previously called the Naval Oil Shale Reserve. The money is revenue above what's needed to clean up Anvil Points, and is estimated at more than $30 million and growing.

Salazar has blocked Allard's bill, saying he prefers to handle the money issue in legislation also addressing future drilling and the price of drilling leases.

The money is not available, Salazar said, until the cleanup is certified.

Allard aides also have said that certification is needed for the money to be released. But Allard believes the money needs to be earmarked for Colorado. He accuses Salazar of holding it hostage to "political games."

In the letter, Campbell and McInnis write that they are "dismayed to hear that some Members of our delegation are opposing your attempts to ensure that Colorado sees the State's fair share of mineral development royalties."

The pair, who don't mention Salazar by name, also say they are concerned about "members of the delegation" who want to limit oil shale development on the 3,500 foot mesa.

McInnis and Campbell wrote the 1997 law that transferred the Naval Oil Shale Reserve lands from the Department of Energy to the Bureau of Land Management.

The December 20 online Post article failed to mention, as then-News columnist Peter Blake noted on January 17, that McInnis works for the Denver office of the international law firm Hogan & Hartson. According to Blake, "McInnis' personal list of clients includes the American Red Cross (Katrina-related issues), EnCana (oil and gas), Cunningham Bounds (another large law firm; budget issues), Eclipse Snow Park (public lands), Anschutz Corp. (taxes) and even The Pueblo Chieftain (water)."

In a November 18, 2006, article, the News reported that EnCana "owns a boatload of mineral rights on the ultrasensitive and controversial Roan Plateau" and that it "says it will consider drilling on the Roan Plateau's public lands once the federal government begins leasing them":

EnCana has drilling rights to more than a million acres in Colorado, by far the largest company punching holes in the ground to reach the state's gas reserves.

There's a great deal at stake. The company owns a boatload of mineral rights on the ultrasensitive and controversial Roan Plateau and is likely to be first in line to snap up the government's stake in the plateau.

[...]

One of the state's biggest natural gas producers, EnCana leases 1.2 million acres in Colorado, two-thirds in the Piceance Basin, which straddles Garfield and Rio Blanco counties.

EnCana has about 2,000 wells in the area and 250 more on its books for 2007 -- about the same number as it drilled this year.

EnCana says it will consider drilling on the Roan Plateau's public lands once the federal government begins leasing them. About 74,000 acres of the plateau, which rises over 9,000 feet, has been off limits. Now the government has decided to open it up.

The 127,000-acre Roan squats on enormous amounts of natural gas -- more than 8.9 trillion cubic feet under federal lands alone, which is enough to heat more than 4 million homes for 20 to 30 years. And much of that can be extracted only from the top 35,000 public acres. [emphases added]

—E.B.