The Bureau of Land Management is seeking to lease out thousands of acres of land near the Petrified Forest National Park, above, for gas and oil exploration.

/Peter Gong / Cronkite News

By Howard Fischer| Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star

Environmental groups are trying to halt a plan by the Bureau of Land Management to lease out more than 4,000 acres of land near Petrified Forest National Park for oil and gas exploration.

Their lawsuit filed Monday in federal court contends the agency failed to look at the consequences, environmental impacts and adverse effects of oil and gas drilling. Those include effects not just in the immediate area but also on water supply and quality farther away.

The environmental groups also charged that the Bureau of Land Management did not consider effects on historic properties in the area.

There was no immediate response from BLM to the lawsuit.

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