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Arctic port recommendation due in March US Army Corps of Engineers is working on draft feasibility report and EIS; Nome region appears most likely development site Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is aiming for an early March release of its recommendation for a seaport to support Arctic Ocean activity.
The release will include a draft feasibility report and environmental impact statement, Lorraine Cordova, economics team lead for the Corps, told Petroleum News on Jan. 8.
The report and EIS will be available for public review, and by December could receive the signature of the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, Cordova said.
Alaska elected officials and others have been pushing for one or more seaports to support a rise in vessel traffic through the Arctic, where warming conditions are opening waters previously inaccessible due to ice.
Northern Alaska lacks major ports along the Arctic coast, most of which is very remote. That’s a concern for industries such as tourism and shipping, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard.
Looking at options In January 2013, the Army Corps issued a report titled “Alaska Deep-Draft Arctic Port System Study.”
That report picked two sites for port feasibility analysis: Nome and nearby Port Clarence. Both these locations are south of the Bering Strait, gateway to the polar ocean.
The forthcoming draft feasibility report and EIS will examine the benefits and costs of a number of port “configurations,” Cordova said. For example, the study will consider different options for dock length and port depth.
Ultimately, the alternative with the highest benefit to the nation will be identified, Cordova said.
The Corps and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities are sharing the cost of the Arctic port studies.
Once the final alternative emerges, it would be up to Congress to authorize the port project and appropriate funding, Cordova said.
“Congress could direct us to build it at full federal expense,” she said.
But more likely, some combination of federal, state, local and even private funding would be involved.
Sen. Begich pleased In any event, it’s not likely the Corps itself would operate the port, because that’s not the agency’s area of expertise, Cordova said.
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, welcomed the news that the Corps recommendation is drawing near.
“We know increased shipping traffic, oil and gas development, tourism and research in the Arctic will lead to a significant jump in vessel activity throughout the region,” Begich said in a Jan. 3 press release. “In the last 10 years, traffic has already increased from just a handful of vessels every year to over 1,000 expected this summer. It is time for Alaska and our nation to step up and become leaders in shaping Arctic policy, transportation and resource development.”
Begich chairs the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard.
In 2013, Begich introduced legislation to create an infrastructure fund to expedite development of an Arctic port, and to name an Arctic ambassador.
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