Both Norton, Pourchot oppose oil pipeline watchdog group

U.S. Department of Interior, Alaska Department of Natural Resources heads expected to sign off on rights of way renewal for trans-Alaska pipeline this year

by The Associated Press

Both Pat Pourchot, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, and Gale Norton, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, have come out in opposition to creation of a citizens watchdog group to oversee operations of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

Pourchot and Norton are the top state and federal officials who later this year are expected to sign off on a 30-year renewal of the pipeline right of way over state and federal lands between Prudhoe Bay and Valdez.

Pourchot said Sept. 16 that he opposes the idea because it would not appreciably improve existing regulatory oversight of the pipeline.

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton said Sept. 10 that a citizens’ panel to oversee the trans-Alaska oil pipeline is not needed.

“What I’ve heard from the Interior (Department) people in Alaska is that the new proposal duplicates some of things we’re already doing with public input,” Norton told reporters Sept. 10. “They feel that working through the existing processes would be better than creating a new process.”

Some environmental and oil watchdog groups say they want a citizens group, similar to the regional citizens advisory councils created by Congress after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The proposal was made as state and federal regulators held hearings on the renewal of the pipeline rights of way across federal and state lands. The oil companies that own the line have applied to extend their use for another 30 years beyond the January 2004 expiration.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates the pipeline for oil company owners, contributes about $2.5 million of the Prince William Sound Citizens Advisory Council’s $3.2 million budget.

Advocates say oversight a must for 25 year old line

Joint Pipeline Office spokesmen said earlier this summer that the government already keeps a close eye on the line. The joint federal-state JPO includes seven state and six federal regulatory that monitor all aspects of pipeline operation, from engineering to impact on wildlife.

Supporters of a citizens review panel say it would provide oversight akin to that provided by the nonprofit Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, which watches over the Valdez tanker port. The supporters say additional oversight is needed more than ever now that the 25-year-old pipeline is showing significant age.

JPO “not a shoestring deal”

“It’s not a shoestring deal,” Pourchot said. “It’s not a superficial effort. It’s a comprehensive, ongoing monitoring, inspection and enforcement program. They employ engineers and people who look at complex systems.”

Pourchot said a new citizen review panel likely would cost $2 million in $3 million in oil company money for little benefit over what the JPO provides. The JPO has the power to issue work orders to the pipeline’s six oil company owners and routinely does, he said.

If citizens want more input in JPO activities, one way to do it might be to better publicize the agency’s executive committee meetings and possibly hold them at different locations around the state, Pourchot said. Meetings of the executive committee, made up of top officials from member JPO agencies, make time available for public comment, he said.

Steve Jones, director of right-of-way renewal for the pipeline owners in Anchorage, also said this summer that existing government oversight is thorough.

“The JPO has day-to-day access to all of our people and facilities and records, and their records in turn are public,” Jones said. A proposed citizens oversight panel he said, “doesn’t really add anything to us except cost.”