DOI allows drilling and seismic tests in Western Arctic
The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 requires the BLM to balance oil and gas development with the protection of fish and wildlife, subsistence, recreational, and other values.
Bob Wick / BLM
This move subjects hundreds of square miles of the Western Arctic to a constant stream of industrial traffic, massive seismic thumper-truck convoys and exploratory drilling for oil, including near the company’s massive Willow project
Just hours before Thanksgiving the U.S. Department of the Interior late Wednesday approved an application from ConocoPhillips that subjects hundreds of square miles of the Western Arctic to a constant stream of industrial traffic, massive seismic thumper truck convoys and exploratory drilling for oil, including near the company’s massive Willow project in the Western Arctic’s National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
If the company finds significant deposits of oil, the work near the controversial Willow Project could increase pollution for years to come.
The Wilderness Society released the following statement from Matt Jackson, Alaska senior manager, in response to the news:
“Alaskans deserve clean air and safe water, the freedom to sustain a subsistence way of life and the assurance that these lands will remain healthy for future generations. Instead, this administration and ConocoPhillips are advancing a project that would sacrifice those values while keeping the public in the dark until the last moment.
“The administration and ConocoPhillips have withheld information for months, ignoring repeated requests for transparency. Rather than protecting communities and the lands they rely on, they’ve rushed forward a proposal that threatens wildlife, public health and cultural traditions that have endured since time immemorial.”
Officially named the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the 23-million-acre Western Arctic is America’s largest tract of public land and was designated by Congress in the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act to be managed for both conservation and energy production.
