BLM selects Argonne National Laboratory for TAPS right of way EIS

Petroleum News Alaska

The Bureau of Land Management has selected Argonne National Laboratory as the prime contractor for preparation of the environmental impact statement for renewal of the right of way for the trans-Alaska pipeline system.

“Argonne has extensive experience in credibly assessing complex projects of national and regional importance, a significant consideration for us,” said BLM’s deputy authorized officer, Gary Reimer, in a June 28 statement.

Argonne will begin work immediately. Current plans call for a draft EIS to be published in July 2002 and a final EIS in November 2002.

BLM is the lead federal agency in the Joint Pipeline Office, a consortium of six federal and seven state of Alaska agencies that oversee the pipeline.

The agency said the right of way renewal process officially began with a May 2 application to BLM and the state of Alaska for a 30-year renewal of the pipeline right of way. BLM and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources are closely cooperating in the TAPS renewal effort.

The National Energy Policy Development Group recently recommended that an expeditious process be used for renewal of the rights of way to ensure that Alaska oil continues to flow uninterrupted to the West Coast.