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Murkowski tries again on park pipeline Legislation would authorize Interior Department to issue right-of-way permit for a natural gas line through Denali National Park Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is again pushing legislation to clear the way for construction of a natural gas pipeline through Denali National Park and Preserve.
The bill, S. 157, passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on March 14 by unanimous consent. Murkowski is the top-ranking Republican on the Democrat-controlled committee.
The bill is similar to one the full Senate passed on New Year’s Day, as members worked overtime on the “fiscal cliff” issue.
That bill, S. 302, went to the House of Representatives, but ultimately died a couple of days later when the 112th Congress ended.
S. 157, like the prior bill, would authorize the Interior Department to issue a right-of-way permit for a high-pressure gas line. Specifically, the line could be buried in the utility corridor along a seven-mile stretch of the George Parks Highway running through Denali Park.
The park segment would be part of a proposed 737-mile pipeline to deliver North Slope gas to the state’s population center at Anchorage.
Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, has signed on as a co-sponsor of S. 157.
Gas for park The same bill, titled the Denali National Park Improvement Act, is pending in the House of Representatives. The bill number is H.R. 586.
Aside from authorizing the pipeline right of way, the legislation allows for distribution lines to supply natural gas for park operations.
Officials with the National Park Service, an Interior Department agency, have voiced support for the legislation.
Gas pipelines may be permitted through a national park only if authorized by an act of Congress.
Murkowski said her bill would smooth the way for a pipeline segment through the park.
“It’s important for Alaskans that our North Slope natural gas has a clear legal path to market,” she said in a March 14 press release. “This bill allows the decisions on the best route for a pipeline to be based on economic and commercial grounds, rather than out of concern about possible lengthy delays caused by trying to win access rights across federal lands. Routing the pipeline through the park would not only make it less expensive to build, but could also take advantage of the existing utility corridor, preventing disturbances to wildlife and environmental impacts on undisturbed lands further to the east or west of the park boundary.”
The ‘bullet’ line Denali is one of the nation’s most cherished national parks, featuring North America’s tallest peak, Mount McKinley, at 20,320 feet.
The park is on the route of the proposed 737-mile pipeline from North Slope gas fields to the area of Anchorage and Cook Inlet.
A state agency, the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., and legislators are pursuing the line to address a looming gas shortage in Southcentral Alaska, where once robust Cook Inlet gas fields are depleting.
Known as the “bullet” or “stand-alone” line, the project is different from a proposed large-diameter export pipeline that would go perhaps into Canada, or to a liquefaction terminal at Valdez.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers already has issued a final environmental impact statement for the bullet line.
The EIS considered route alternatives, including one that would allow a short segment of the pipe to pass through the huge Denali Park.
A coalition of environmental groups including the National Parks Conservation Association has said routing the line through the park “would seem to make the most sense,” as going around the park would require construction on undeveloped lands.
Though much smaller than the export line, the bullet line nevertheless would be a multibillion-dollar megaproject. And so there’s no guarantee it will ever be built.
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