can't drill in ANWR? we'll just move it a couple miles over then

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Interior Department to Open Alaskan Land to Oil Drilling

Environmentalists Question Statement That Exploration Can Have Minimal

Impact on Wildlife

 

By Justin Blum

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, January 12, 2006; A08

 

The Interior Department yesterday agreed to open about 400,000 acres on

Alaska's North Slope for exploratory oil drilling, an area that

previously had been off limits because of concerns about the impact on

wildlife.

 

Officials said they would lease acreage in the northeastern corner of

the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to oil companies to provide

access to domestic oil supplies.

 

" We recognize . . . the energy needs of this nation, " said Susan

Childs, an official with the Bureau of Land Management. " So, hopefully,

this will alleviate some of the pressure. "

 

Government officials said that the area of the preserve opened

yesterday has significant potential for oil development. They estimate

it contains about 2 billion barrels of oil that is economically

recoverable, along with 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The

United States consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil per day.

 

Much of the 23.5 million-acre petroleum reserve already is open to oil

development. The reserve, created in 1923, is located west of the

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, long a flashpoint in the debate over

allowing oil drilling versus protecting the environment.

 

Childs said the land opened yesterday could be drilled with " minimal "

impact on wildlife, a conclusion that environmentalists dispute.

 

The area -- particularly near Teshekpuk Lake -- has been a focal point

of concern among environmentalists. They say oil operations would

disrupt an area where thousands of brant geese and white-fronted geese

molt. They also predicted harm to caribou and tundra swans.

 

" This is the single most important goose molting area in the arctic, "

said Stanley Senner, executive director of Audubon Alaska. " It will

mean fewer birds. "

 

The Bureau of Land Management proposed opening the area a year ago. But

it was not until yesterday that an Interior Department official, Deputy

Assistant Secretary Chad Calvert, approved a modified version of that

plan.

 

The area near Teshekpuk Lake was put off limits to drilling during the

Reagan administration. The Clinton administration expanded the

restricted area.

 

But the Bureau of Land Management says technological advances in oil

drilling allow drilling to occur without the impact previously feared.

Drilling will be allowed about a quarter-mile from the lake.

 

Bureau officials said they would conduct further study on the impact to

molting geese before allowing permanent drilling.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company

 

 

What God had done for peace on earth, what man destroyed from day of birth

They are concerned with feelings; they're just ashamed to cry

And one mans plan to push the button makes other sacrifice

The serenade is dead and now the only question's why?