Phillips has as many as 20 temporary air quality permits in the works for winter drilling program

Kristen Nelson, PNA editor-in-chief

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said Sept. 5 that it is proposing to issue “up to 20” temporary air quality control construction permits to Phillips Alaska Inc. for exploration drilling and well testing on the North Slope of Alaska for Phillips’ 2002-2003 winter drilling program.

DEC said Phillips as applied for the permits for up to 20 sites between the Ikpikpuk and Kuparuk rivers on the North Slope north of latitude 69 degrees 40 minutes, the Umiat Meridian. Nuiqsut is the nearest community, the agency said. The Ikpikpuk River is in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. It drains into the Beaufort Sea at Smith Bay and is just beyond the western boundary of the existing leased area in the northeast planning area of NPR-A. Phillips over summered a drilling rig at Puviag south of Smith Bay this year and Puviag is one of the company’s proposed drilling sites for the 2002-03 winter. DEC said Phillips plans to conduct drilling and well testing activities on up to 20 new temporary ice pads. Each site requires a separate air construction permit for emission sources including diesel-electric generators, well test flares, heaters and boilers and incinerators. Phillips told agencies in August that it plans to drill from one to four exploration wells in the 2002-03 winter season in NPR-A and on state and private lands west of Kuparuk.

DEC said it plans to authorize activities at identified sites for two winter seasons, through May 31, 2004. The Division of Governmental Coordination will publish notice for each of Phillips’ exploration sites subject to project consistency review under the Alaska Coastal Management Program. DEC said it will decide whether to issue a construction permit for each site after DGC issues a final project consistency determination.

For projects not subject to DGC’s review, DEC said it will publish a supplemental public notice identifying each exploration site and allowing for public comment.