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Feds, state bicker over cleanup of leaking wells on North Slope Wells were drilled between 1944 and 1981 for Navy, USGS by The Associated Press
Exploration wells drilled in northern Alaska decades ago by the federal government are leaking crude oil and gas in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and government agencies are quarreling over how bad the problem is and who should pay to fix it.
The wells were drilled for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Geological Survey between 1944 and 1981, said Ed Bovy, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Land Management.
Exposure to extreme temperatures coupled with snow and rain have caused the wellheads to deteriorate over the years, state officials say. They say the wells should be capped to meet state and federal standards.
At least two wells have released crude oil and gas into the environment and state officials fear more leaks will occur if the wells are not repaired. The BLM has begun inspecting and counting the wells, but has disclaimed responsibility.
“We figure there are 110 wells scattered around the 23 million acres, which is the size of the state of Indiana,” Bovy said. The inventory will take another two years to complete, he said.
Leak at Cape Simpson Last year an official with the Native Village of Barrow reported that one of the wells was leaking crude onto the tundra at Cape Simpson. An estimated 30 to 50 gallons had spilled from a worn wellhead, said Tom DeRuyter, an environmental specialist with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The well is located in an area where crude oil seeps naturally at the surface.
“There wasn’t a lot of environmental damage, but clearly the well had not been maintained,” DeRuyter said. “It is unknown how many other wells are in this same condition.”
State billed BLM The state billed BLM $4,863 for responding to the Cape Simpson spill. BLM rejected the bill, invoking sovereign immunity and saying the federal agency was not responsible for the state’s costs.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Environmental Protection Agency have asked BLM to join them in developing a program to properly close the wells. Their letter said the cost may be several million dollars, but proposed the three agencies work together to find the money. The BLM responded again that it had no legal obligation to act on the wells, and disputed that any harm had occurred.
Bovy said it would take years to get a complete picture of what needs to be done. Most of the cost to repair the wells will be in getting materials and workers to the remote site, he said.
Some of the wells are located on tracts the BLM has leased or plans to lease to oil companies for oil and gas exploration, but Bovy couldn’t say how many. The oil companies would not be liable for the wells, he said.
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