USA, Oregon:

More Geothermal Drilling Eyed Near Newberry (Blue Mountain Eagle)

Newberry Crater

It's the latest push for home-grown energy production: the Deschutes National Forest has completed an Environmental Assessment for more potential geothermal drilling on 11 parcels totaling about 6,200 acres west of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. A published notice this week began a 30-day comment period on the proposal to authorize the Bureau of Land Management to conduct geothermal lease sales.

The initial BLM request to the Forest Service dates back six years, and eight seismic monitoring stations were installed in recent years. The comment period ends on March 26th and is intended to offer parties interested in or affected by the activity an opportunity to make their concerns known. All comments will become matter of public record. AltaRock Energy of Seattle has been testing enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) in the area, although exploration so far has found hot rocks but not enough water to bring that heat to the surface and create power.