Another One To File: I Can't Make This Stuff Up -- Nothing To Do With The Bakken

Utah officials have given a Canadian company the green light to begin mining oil sands on a remote plateau in Eastern Utah without first obtaining a pollution permit or monitoring groundwater quality, an action that sets the stage for a possible court battle over the fragile region.

No groundwater permit? "Walloping white water, Batman!"

"Hold on, Robin. There is no water there."

Chris Hogle, an attorney representing the company, told the board that water quality officials and U.S. Oil Sands hydrologists had "traipsed" over the ... mine site for years searching for water.

"They didn't find any," he said. "What water there is is disconnected from the mine site and will not be impacted."

And so it goes. Link to Bloomberg here. 

Something tells me the fact there is no water there will make little difference to the feds.