(AP) — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Friday released a revised environmental review of proposed petroleum development in Alaska's Chukchi Sea, a step that could lead to a resumption of Arctic Ocean drilling in 2015. The document was immediately panned by environmental groups that have twice successfully sued to block drilling in the Chukchi Sea. They claim federal reviewers have seriously underestimated drilling's environmental effects in a remote, harsh environment that's home to polar bears, whales, walrus and other threatened species and Native Alaskans who depend on the ocean.
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Acting Director Walter Cruickshank said the document was released after "a robust and thorough process." It uses the best available data, including actual bidding data, to estimate the highest amount of anticipated production, the agency said. Mike LeVine, an attorney for the environmentalist group Oceana, said it's the third time the government has tried to justify offering millions of acres of the remote Chukchi Sea to oil companies. "The government should have more fairly evaluated the impacts of the sale before holding it, and companies should have more carefully weighed the risks to their investments before making them," he said in a prepared statement.
Pro-development U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the release of the revised environmental review was good news. She said she hoped it would satisfy court concerns. Alaska's offshore resources are an opportunity to improve America's energy security, create jobs and keep the trans-Alaska oil pipeline operating, Murkowski said. "We're now getting down to the wire, and it's vital that there be no further delay," she said in a statement. "The leaseholders are under a very tight schedule and have to receive final approval for their drilling plans by early spring in order for there to be drilling next summer."
A federal appeals court in January ruled that the government prepared a flawed environmental review before selling $2.7 billion in Chukchi leases in 2008. The review was based on projected extraction of one billion barrels of oil. Environmental groups said development was likely to be far more widespread. The supplemental review assumes an extraction of 4.3 billion barrels over the life of the leases, said Eric Grafe, an Earthjustice attorney who litigated the case, and lists far larger potential impacts.
The agency acknowledges that there is a 75 percent chance that one or more large oil spills of 42,000 gallons or more could occur if leases are developed, Grafe said. "There's no way to clean up such a spill if it happens," he said. "You're really rolling the dice if you're going to allow development in the Arctic."
The November 7 publishing of the supplemental environmental review in the Federal Register kicks off a 45-day public comment period ending Dec. 22 that will include hearings in seven Alaska communities. Grafe called release of the draft environmental review the first step in the process. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will have to analyze comments and decide whether to keep or modify leases, he said.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC was the leading bidder in 2008. The company spent $2.1 billion on Chukchi leases and has spent more than $5 billion on Arctic offshore development. In 2012 Shell drilled pilot holes and performed other preliminary work in both the Chukchi and the Beaufort seas. The company experienced problems in the challenging Arctic conditions, culminating with the drill vessel Kulluk running aground near Kodiak as it was being towed across the Gulf of Alaska. The company chose not to drill in 2013 or 2014, but it has prepared a revised drilling plan for 2015 if it is allowed to drill and chooses to do so.