In the sometimes uneasy relationship between the Native communities of Alaska’s North Slope and the oil industry the potential for shale oil development may raise new issues in the delicate balancing act between resource development and community concerns.
And in a speech at the Alaska Shale Conference on July 31, Mayor Charlotte Brower of the North Slope Borough expressed the borough’s views of both shale oil development and oil and gas development in general.
“Let me be clear,” Brower said. “My administration supports oil and gas development, and the broad goal of the North Slope Borough is to maintain a healthy environment supporting Inupiat subsistence practices, while at the same time promoting economic growth and responsible resource development.”
The planning of oil and gas development in Arctic Alaska must involve the Native communities, to ensure that their particular concerns and perspectives are taken into account, she said.
“We Inupiat on the North Slope have always viewed the world through a different cultural lens, and sometimes that has led others to a conclusion that we are anti-development,” Brower said. “Let me assure you that this is simply not the case.”
Borough support
In fact, the borough can help oil and gas development in a number of ways: in the streamlining of the permitting process; in long-term planning; in the training and mentoring of local people to enter the industry workforce; and in ensuring responsible development, avoiding negative impacts, Brower said.
The borough has accommodated and supported National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska development, other than in the area around Teshekpuk Lake; the borough is increasing its planning capacity to assist that development and is developing a new digital-map-based permit tracking system; the borough has parcels of land for development as gravel sources; and the borough is beginning the permitting and planning for a new fiber optic service into NPR-A for Chukchi Sea development, Brower said.
Much to do
When it comes to North Slope shale oil development, a possibility being researched by Great Bear Petroleum through a test drilling program, there is much to be done to make the North Slope communities comfortable with what may lie ahead. In particular, while the borough “wholeheartedly” supports Great Bear’s efforts to determine whether oil can be commercially extracted from North Slope source rocks, the scale and intensity of shale development is new to the North Slope, Brower said.
“If shale development becomes a reality we will push you to minimize your footprint,” Brower said. “We will push hard to protect freshwater resources. We will push for the design and routing of pipelines to have the least possible impact on caribou migration and subsistence activities. And we will insist that there will be job opportunities for local residents.”
Seat at the table
And, for shale oil and any other development, a key concern for the borough is to have a seat at the table during development planning, Brower said.
The borough has learned that a task force with representatives from state agencies has already been meeting to evaluate what might be involved in North Slope shale oil development, Brower said.
“If this preplanning is going to be successful the North Slope Borough needs to be part of the process as well,” she said. “We understand this is a state government task force, but imagine setting the table and not inviting the host to the dinner.”
The people of the North Slope are the experts on the Arctic environment, having subsisted off the land and ocean for thousands of years; they have the necessary experience to assess potential industrial impacts. People are eager to share their experience and to work collaboratively, but not to be overrun as an afterthought, Brower said. Brower particularly cited the Arctic Policy Commission, newly formed by the State legislature, as an institute for promoting Arctic dialogue.
Revenue sharing
Another major concern revolves around the equitable sharing of oil and gas revenues with North Slope communities.
The North Slope Borough has twice had to take litigation to the state’s Supreme Court to protect its rights to collect its share of tax on oil and gas properties in the face of interpretations of a tax cap provision in state statutes, Brower said. The oil industry has successfully lobbied against the removal of the tax cap, despite the fact that removal of the cap would not have impacted industry tax liabilities, she said.
“When questioned on why they opposed it, all they would say is it scares us. Well, let me tell you this: oil and gas development scares us,” Brower said, adding that she and her staff are always willing to sit down and discuss the tax issue with the oil companies.
“You have asked us to work with you in achieving your goals. Now I ask you to work with us in achieving ours,” Brower said, addressing oil industry executives attending the conference.
Cultural impact
A third key concern for the borough and its constituents is the impact of an ever-expanding North Slope oil infrastructure on the cultural identity of the North Slope communities. And in addressing this particular issue, community leaders have been flexible, recognizing that there are no simple “yes” or “no” solutions to the complexities of the modern world, Brower said.
“Our leaders engaged with those who had competing interests, and they and we adapted,” Brower said. “Rather than fighting the inevitable advancement of Western culture, they chose to participate in modern life and the corporate world, and created the North Slope Borough, the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and many other organizations, programs and corporations that now protect and sustain our people. Adapting is not a threat to our culture; it is what we have done to protect it.”
With “subsistence,” the word that refers to traditions at the heart of the Native culture, being an awkward word to some, people of the borough have coined an new phrase “food security” as another expression that captures the essence of the Arctic hunting tradition, Brower said. Subsistence and food security are not just a way of life: They define the Native people and hold families together, Brower said, describing how her five-year-old grandson’s eyes light up at the prospect of whaling like his father’s, and recounting the annual tradition of preparing for living through the dark nights of winter.
Understanding needed
“When we express a concern regarding a new project, it’s for the same reasons that any other community might have when a resource company wants to drill in their backyard,” Brower said. “These concerns need to be addressed in the analysis that precedes a project. It takes time to create a level of trust between parties with different cultural and economic perspectives. By making an investment of time, agencies and companies send the message that they’re not just in it for oil; they also understand and honor the values that connect the Inupiat to the land and sea.”
The North Slope Borough has just celebrated its 40th anniversary, under a theme of “unity then, unity now, 40 years strong,” Brower said. It is now crucial that the residents of the North Slope continue to work together to ensure sound and safe oil and gas development, maintaining a balance between the benefits of development and the need for social and cultural wellbeing, while also recognizing the need for U.S. domestic sources of energy.
Brower pledged to work with the state governor, state legislators, the congressional delegation and industry to find that necessary balance.
“Let’s look for common ground, common purpose. … Our common interests are greater than our differences,” Brower said.
—Alan Bailey
