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NSB not happy with Interior on NPR-A North Slope Borough Mayor concerned Interior’s preferred plan for NPR-A will result in tanker shipments rather than line to TAPS Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell has already expressed the state’s displeasure with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s preferred alternative for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska plan, informing Secretary Ken Salazar in a Sept. 12 letter that the state is withdrawing as a cooperating agency from the planning agreement for NPR-A (see story in Sept. 16 issue of Petroleum News).
The North Slope Borough also has concerns about Interior’s preferred alternative for NPR-A development.
In remarks prepared for delivery to the Alaska Oil and Gas Congress in Anchorage Sept. 19, borough Mayor Charlotte Brower said the borough is not anti-oil and gas development, but has always expressed a preference for onshore development over offshore development.
Concerns the borough has, Brower said, are centered around protection of subsistence resources — food security.
She cited recent remarks by Salazar that countries in the Arctic must listen to each other and to local communities.
But, she said, the recent announcement of Interior’s preferred alternative for NPR-A doesn’t incorporate concerns raised by North Slope residents, communities and regional corporations.
She said the borough was disappointed by the lack of collaboration in the development of Interior’s preferred B-2 alternative, especially in light of the memorandum of understanding the borough has with Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, which Brower said specifies consultation in developing alternatives.
Marine environment One of the borough’s major concerns is protection of the Arctic marine environment, Brower said, and the borough is concerned that if the federal government’s management plan for NPR-A severely limits the area in which a pipeline from the outer continental shelf could be built, the economic consequence would be to drive producers to favor oil tankers over a pipeline taking OCS oil across NPR-A to the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
She said the borough believes pipelines to shore need to be encouraged and the use of tankers discouraged.
She also cited economic consequences for the state and the borough. If OCS oil does not come onshore, the borough and the state will see virtually no benefit from OCS development, while bearing the majority of the risks, Brower said.
Teshekpuk Lake Another concern the borough has is that the size of the Teshekpuk Lake special area in the B-2 alternative prohibits oil and gas development in areas of NPR-A with the highest resource potential.
Brower said the borough has seen that with robust permit stipulations and best management practices oil and gas development can occur without severe negative consequences on the environment and subsistence resources.
She said the borough hopes that the NPR-A alternative selected will focus on responsible resource development and economic opportunity.
Other issues of concern to the borough include lack of a permanent U.S. Coast Guard presence on the North Slope, the lack of progress in remediating legacy wells drilled by the federal government in NPR-A and the lack of a broadband communications link between North Slope communities and the rest of the state.
Local input Brower said one of the greatest strengths in onshore development is extensive reliance on local input.
A similar level of local participation is needed if offshore Arctic exploration moves forward, she said, citing local expertise on the Arctic environment based on long experience.
Brower cited Great Bear Petroleum as an example of win-win cooperation for development. She said borough staff recently visited the site of Great Bear’s Alcor No. 1 well and said it had a small footprint and was clean and well organized. She said the drill site was physically close to the Sag River and to mitigate possible adverse events, Great Bear had lined and bermed the entire drill site, not just limited areas. She said the berm around the entire site was not required, but called it the responsible thing to do, and said had there been an unplanned event the Sag River would have been protected.
She also cited use by Great Bear of heavy duty rig mats over the drill site and access road. She said borough staff witnessed the move of the rig from one drill site to the next and said while adjacent areas had heavy mud due to recent rain, the Great Bear sites has been protected by the rig mats.
Brower also cited outreach and support by Statoil, Shell and ConocoPhillips.
More onshore focus Brower said while she shared the concern of the previous mayor, Edward Itta, with offshore development, she felt he neglected to address onshore development.
She said the borough supports the governor in his effort to increase onshore North Slope development, and believes it is now time to commit to a unified Alaska position on a fair share of oil taxes.
The mayor also noted concerns expressed by Richard Glenn, the vice president of lands and natural resources for Arctic Slope Regional Corp., with about Interior’s preferred NPR-A alternative. She quoted Glenn as saying that wildlife does not recognize boxes on a map and that Interior’s preferred alternative is based on the mistaken assumption that development can proceed in one part of NPR-A only by locking up another part.
She also quoted Glenn as saying that Salazar’s claim that his alternative is supported by Native interests is not collaborated by regional organizations or Native landowners in NPR-A.
Close to 59 percent of Alaska’s 365 million acres are federally managed, Brower said, and most of that land is undeveloped with little or no infrastructure.
She pledged to North Slope residents that her administration would work with the governor, state legislators, Coast Guard, industry, congressional delegation and Arctic neighbors to find a balance between economic benefits of development and preserving cultural and social wellbeing of Arctic peoples.
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