US Oil Sands Receives Permission to Mine Without Pollution Permit

Bloomberg reported that the board of the Utah Division of Water Quality gave Calgary-based US Oil Sands Inc. (TSXV:USO) permission to mine oil sands on an Eastern Utah plateau without a pollution permit. It is also not required to monitor groundwater quality. There is speculation that these circumstances could result in future court battles, but the company remains confident that it will be able to proceed easily.

As quoted in the market news:

The board of the Utah Division of Water Quality sided with Calgary-based U.S. Oil Sands contends that there was little or no water in the area of the company’s proposed mine site and affirmed the agency’s earlier decision not to require the permits or monitoring.

The board’s 9-2 vote Wednesday caps years of wrangling with the water agency over U.S. Oil Sands proposal to open the first large-scale oil sands mine in the United States in the Book Cliffs, an area renowned for its abundant wildlife but also dotted with occasional oil and gas wells.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.