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Legislation could spur Arctic seaport Young, Murkowski sponsor Point Spencer Land Conveyance Act to lay groundwork for possible public-private infrastructure development Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
Legislation introduced recently in Congress would support potential infrastructure development at remote Point Spencer, just south of the Bering Strait.
Alaska political and economic development leaders for years have said a deepwater seaport is needed to support activity in the Arctic Ocean. The Bering Strait is the gateway to the polar sea, which is seeing less and less ice cover with climate change.
Congressman Don Young and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, both Alaska Republicans, on May 13 introduced the Point Spencer Land Conveyance Act.
The legislation provides for the transfer of federal land at Point Spencer to the state and to the Nome-based Bering Straits Native Corp.
The bill also would establish a Port Coordination Advisory Council for the Port of Point Spencer. Membership on the council would consist of state and BSNC representatives.
The council would develop a plan to help coordinate construction, funding and other aspects of infrastructure development and operations at the Port of Point Spencer, the 19-page bill says.
‘Desperate need’ Young and Murkowski said their bill would foster a public-private partnership to bring development to northwest Alaska.
This is the second time Young has offered the Point Spencer Land Conveyance Act.
“There’s no question that this region is in desperate need of development of multiple port facilities, particularly as activity in the region increases and ship traffic through the Bering Strait has nearly doubled in recent years,” Young said in a press release. “I believe this legislation is the best path forward to ensure the interests of all stakeholders are fully met when developing Point Spencer. Unfortunately, under the current fiscal constraints of the federal government, there is no clear path to development without public and private participation. My hope is that this equitable and sensible approach will help us achieve our goal of optimizing the use of this critically important piece of land.”
“The question is not if, but when, America and Alaska are going to better leverage our status as an Arctic nation,” Murkowski said. “The infrastructure projects that this bill would enable could speed up the timetable to more economic investment and development, allowing us to not fall any further behind other nations.”
Land transfers Point Spencer is located at the tip of a long sandspit that partially encloses Port Clarence, a large bay 60 nautical miles northwest of Nome. The bay has been cited as one of the few good sites on the northern Alaska coastline for a harbor that could accommodate deep-draft vessels.
Port Clarence has a colorful history. Whaling ships used it in the 1800s as a port of refuge and to take on coal and water. In the early 1900s, Port Clarence served as a landing point for reindeer transported from Siberia.
The U.S. Coast Guard established a LORAN radio navigation station on Point Spencer in 1961, erecting a 1,350-foot antenna, the tallest structure in Alaska. The station operated until 2010, and the antenna was taken down.
A good airstrip and some buildings remain at Point Spencer.
Ships and tugs continue to duck into Port Clarence for refuge.
The Point Spencer Land Conveyance Act calls for a number of land designations and transfers, the press release from Young and Murkowski said.
•The Coast Guard would retain 161 acres at Point Spencer to support future possible uses of the strategic location, including a major footprint on the waterfront and lands the Coast Guard boarded up in 2010. The bill also would give the Coast Guard rights to use the current or future airstrips at no cost.
•The state would receive 110 acres of federal lands, including a shoreline footprint and a right of way for future development of a road from the airstrip to the mainland across BSNC land. Additionally, the tidelands and submerged lands around Point Spencer would be recognized as having continued state ownership.
•BSNC would receive 2,209 acres, satisfying a portion of its land entitlement under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The bill includes archaeological and ancestral protections.
Compelling interests The bill notes that shipping traffic through the Bering Strait is increasing, and this is likely to continue regardless of whether development proceeds on the Arctic Ocean outer continental shelf.
“There is a compelling national, state, Alaska Native, and private sector need for permanent infrastructure development and for a presence in the Arctic region of Alaska by appropriate agencies of the federal government, particularly in proximity to the Bering Strait, to support and facilitate search and rescue, shipping safety, economic development, oil spill prevention and response, protection of Alaska Native archaeological and cultural resources, port of refuge, Arctic research, and maritime law enforcement on the Bering Sea, the Chukchi Sea, and the Arctic Ocean,” the bill says.
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