SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah artists and conservationists fear an application for oil drilling near the Great Salt Lake's Rozel Point could threaten the famous earthen art installation, the Spiral Jetty.

Pearl Montana Exploration and Production of Calgary, Alberta filed an application to drill two wells from barges on the lake Jan. 11.

If the application is approved, drilling could commence this year in the lake's Little Valley Harbor, five miles southwest of Rozel Point, State Planning Coordinator John Harja said.

State regulators are considering the proposal, but haven't made decision on permit terms the drilling company would have to accept.

"If there's a problem, we won't sign until the problem is solved," said Brad Hill, permit manager for the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining.

The state must honor mineral rights, but can cancel leases if an operator violates permit terms or if the state determines there is an "imminent significant irreversible threat to the public trust," said Dave Grierson, ecosystem manager with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

Pearl Montana holds three leases on land exempted from a 2006 agreement that pulled back some oil and gas leases.

The deal between the state and conservation group including Western Resource Advocates, the Sierra Club's Utah chapter, Friends of Great Salt Lake and Great Salt Lake Audubon was designed to protect the lake's unique resources. It took leases off 116,000 acres of public land, but left out another 55,000 acres.

Conservationists thought the Spiral Jetty, a 1,500 foot coil of basalt rock and soil built by artist Robert Smithson in 1970, was out harm's way.

The drilling application caught conservationists off guard because the agreement included notice of any drilling proposals. That notice didn't come, said Lynn de Freitas, executive director of Friends of Great Salt Lake, but a conservationist spotted the application information on a state Web site.

The discovery prompted a flood of e-mails to state officials.

In one, Jeffrey Weiss, director of the New-York-based Dia Art Foundation, said, "The expansive natural setting is integral to Smithson's artwork, providing an essential frame for experiencing the Spiral Jetty. Any incursion on the open landscape, including the proposed drilling, would significantly compromise this important work of art."

Regulators are accepting public comment on the issue through Friday.