New comment deadline for Beaufort plan

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The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has extended the deadline for public comments on the Alaska Coastal Management Program consistency of Shell’s new Beaufort Sea exploration plan. The comment deadline has been changed from Sept. 30 to Oct. 14. The department has not published any reason for the change.

Shell plans to use the drillship Frontier Discoverer to drill one well in its Beaufort Sea Torpedo prospect and one well in its Sivulliq prospect during the 2010 summer drilling season. Both prospects are on the outer continental shelf, on the west side of Camden Bay, north of the eastern end of the North Slope.

The U.S. Minerals Management Service is also reviewing the plan as part of its approval process. The plan is a much-scaled down version of Shell’s 2007-09 Beaufort Sea plan that ran aground on litigation against its approval.

The deadline for comments on Shell’s Beaufort Sea Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan has also been extended to Oct. 14.

—Alan Bailey