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Cook Inletkeeper
OIL AND
GAS LEASING
Sept. 30,
2008: State of Alaska Opens Public Comment on New Areawide
Leasing Scheme in Cook Inlet
On September 30, 2008, the Alaska Department
of Natural Resources, Division of Oil & Gas, announced the
release of a preliminary "Best Interest Finding" to proceed with
additional oil and gas leasing over the next ten years in the
state waters of Cook Inlet. The announcement came in the
form of a
public notice, with comments due December 1, 2008.
Under the state's areawide leasing program,
DNR makes a determination every 10 years whether oil and gas
leasing in a particular area meets constitutional thresholds to
be in the "best interest" of all Alaskans. As a practical
matter, the state historically assumes oil and gas development
are in the states' best interests; however, citizens can play a
meaningful role shaping how leasing and development unfold.
For example, in the previous Best Interest Finding process for
Cook Inlet, Inletkeeper worked with
Trustees for Alaska to put
over 660,000 acres of prime beluga whale habitat off limits to
permanent oil and gas infrastructure. Such mitigation
measures have not put unreasonable constraints on the oil and
gas industry, yet they have helped protect the Beluga whale and
its habitat.
Public hearings will be held in Anchorage,
Wasilla, Kenai, and Homer:
Date: Monday, October 27, 2008
Location: Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center
600 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage
Kahtnu Meeting Room 1 (2nd Floor)
Times: 6:00-7:00 pm Informal Question/Answer
7:00-9:00 pm Formal Public Testimony
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Location: Multi-Use Sports Complex
1001 South Mack Drive, Wasilla
Times: 6:00-7:00 pm Informal Question/Answer
7:00-9:00 pm Formal Public Testimony
Date: Monday, November 3, 2008
Location: Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association
40610 Kalifornsky Beach Road, Kenai
Times: 6:00-7:00 pm Informal Question/Answer
7:00-9:00 pm Formal Public Testimony
Date: Thursday, November 6, 2008
Location: Alaska Ocean and Islands Visitor Center (Auditorium)
95 Sterling Highway, Homer
Times: 6:00-7:00 pm Informal Question/Answer
7:00-9:00 pm Formal Public Testimony
Written comments may also be submitted to:
Greg Curney (click
on name to e-mail)
Division of Oil and Gas
550 W. 7th Avenue, Suite 800
Anchorage, AK 99501
Fax: (907) 269-8938
The
Proposed Cook Inlet Areawide Oil and Gas Lease Sale Preliminary
Best Interest Finding of the Director is available on line.
CDs of the preliminary best interest finding will also be
available at the hearings. Hard copies of the document are
available for public review at the following locations: public
libraries in Palmer, Wasilla, Kenai, Ninilchik, Homer, Soldotna,
Anchor Point, and Seldovia; the Loussac Public Library in
Anchorage; and the Alaska State Library System.
Cook Inletkeeper will be developing in-depth comments on this
proposal and encourages all citizens concerned about healthy
fisheries and whale populations to get involved. Contact Bob
Shavelson at 907.235.4068 x22 or
bob@inletkeeper.org for
more information.
Background: As oil and gas prices remain
high, and old reserves ebb further toward decline, a second
energy boom has descended on Cook Inlet. For example, despite low
industry interest, the Bush Administration continues to offer 2+
million acres of the rich and productive fish habitat for
offshore oil and gas leasing in the frontier waters of lower
Cook Inlet under the Minerals Management Service’s latest 5-year
plan. And for the first time in fifteen years, an oil and gas
corporation, Escopeta Oil, plans to bring a jack-up rig to
drill several offshore prospects in upper Cook Inlet. Under the
State’s areawide leasing scheme, the Division of Oil and Gas
will lease an additional 2 million acres of open-water, tidal
and estuarine fisheries habitat each year through 2007, in areas
where the state already has issued hundreds of leases. The
Administration is also pressing to expand oil and gas
development in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, a Refuge
important to brown bear and spawning salmon. And while Cook
Inletkeeper has made significant progress staving off a new wave
of coalbed methane (CBM) development in Cook Inlet, the State
continues to look to BLM and state lands as prospects for CBM
leasing in prime salmon spawning habitats.
Cook Inletkeeper will work in
the year ahead to critique leasing proposals in Cook Inlet, and
ensure no new development or exploration occurs in sensitive
areas.
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