Send this article to Promobot

More documents released on lease sale 193

August 18th 2:52 pm | Alaska Newspapers Staff Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

The Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement has released a final supplemental environmental impact statement for the Chukchi Sea oil and gas lease sale 193, held in February 2008.

BOEMRE officials said today that the document provides additional environmental analysis that supplements the review originally completed as part of the planning for lease sale 193. Specifically, the final SEIS addresses concerns raised by the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in its July 21, 2010, decision remanding lease sale 193 back to the agency, incorporates additional public comment, and includes a new analysis of the environmental impacts of a hypothetical very large oil spill scenario.

The announcement drew a quick response from Oceana, an environmental group which campaigns to protect and restore the world's oceans, saying that Oceana is "displeased with the agency's decision to downplay the very large, very important science gaps identified by the recent U.S. Geological Survey's June 2011 report.

"BOEMRE cannot keep using the USGS report as window dressing," said Chris Krenz, Arctic project manager for Oceana. "Gaps were identified and many of which need to be filled before the administration can make an informed decision. It seems that every day we learn how little we know about the Arctic, record low ice, new walrus behavior, new fish stocks, and yet BOEMRE and the Department of the Interior keep putting the sled before the dogs."

"The laundry list of unavoidable impacts to America's Arctic as part of the approval process for drilling in the remote Chukchi Sea reads like a farewell speech to this fragile ecosystem and the vibrant cultures that have inhabited it for millennia," said Susan Murray, senior Pacific director of Oceana.

The Federal Register notice announcing the final SEIS is to be published Aug. 26. BOEMRE will accept public comments on the final SEIS from Aug. 26 through Sept. 26.

BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich said he felt the document would ensure that decisions relating to this lease sale "will be made in a careful, balanced manner using the best scientific information available."

Lease sale 193 was challenged in court by a coalition of environmental groups and Alaska Native organizations back in 2008.

In July 2010, the district court remanded the sale back to BOEMRE for further analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act. In its decision, the court stated that the bureau was not required to re-do the lease sale's entire environmental impact statement, but rather to address a specific set of concerns.

Bromwich said that to address these concerns, the agency drafted a SEIS, which was released for public comment in October 2010. Following the opportunity for public comment, the agency prepared a revised version of the draft, which was released for public comment in May 2011.

The revised SEIS included an analysis of the potential environmental effects of a hypothetical very large oil spill scenario. A very large oil spill scenario is hypothetical, and is not an analysis of a well that any operator has actually proposed to drill. When an operator submits an exploration plan, that plan must specify the wells it proposes to drill and include an oil spill response plan that includes worst case discharge values for these proposed wells. These values take into account specific depth, pressure, oil and anticipated reservoir properties for the proposed wells. These values may be lower than the hypothetical very large oil spill scenario used for the overall environmental analysis.

BOEMRE held public hearings in Kotzebue, Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright, Barrow, Fairbanks and Anchorage; and conducted government-to-government consultations. Over 360,000 comment letters or cards were received from various entities: Alaska State and local governments; organizations; tribes; corporations; nongovernmental; industry; business and trade organizations; members of the Alaska State legislature; members of other state legislatures; federal agencies; and the public at large. After a rigorous review of these comments, BOEMRE updated the final SEIS to reflect important stakeholder and public feedback.

The final SEIS is online at: http://alaska.boemre.gov/ref/EIS_EA/2011_041_FSEIS/2011_041x.htm

Copies are available on CD while supplies last. To request a copy, please submit a request to: BOEMRE Alaska OCS Region, 3801 Centerpoint Dr. Ste. 500, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-5820; or call (907) 334-5200 or (800) 764-2627.

Comments on the final SEIS may be submitted at http://www.boemre.gov/publiccomment.htm or send mail to: "Final SEIS, Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 193" c/o Regional Director, BOEMRE Alaska OCS Region, 3801 Centerpoint Drive Ste. 500 Anchorage AK 99503-5820.

 

Alaska Newspapers Staff can be reached at editor@alaskanewspapers.com, or by phone at 907-348-2449

Copyright 2012 The Bristol Bay Times is a publication of Alaska Media, LLC. This article is © 2012 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Media, LLC makes no provisions for further distribution.