Alaska is one of the largest producers of oil and gas from the OCS in the nation.  Oil is produced offshore on oil rigs in Cook Inlet south of  Anchorage as well as north of Prudhoe Bay on man made islands.  Currently the Minerals Management Service of the Dept. of Interior has held and will hold lease sales in the Chuck-chi Sea NW of Alaska and in the Beaufort Sea north of ANWR and in Bristol Bay in SW Alaska.  These offshore areas have estimated in-place reserves of 27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas combined. Along with Anchorage Secretary Salazar visited Dillingham a village in Bristol Bay to hear the testimony of the local people. 

The hearing in Anchorage is the third in a series held around the nation. Previously the Secretary travelled to New Orleans Louisiana and Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Every five years the MMS submits a plan toward future OCS lease sales.  These lease sale plans affect areas only where states permit the activity and normally only from 3 miles offshore and beyond.  Except with Texas and Louisiana, most states only control up to the 3 mile limit.  The MMS lease sale and development process is extremely long and complex involving hundreds of permits required from dozens of federal and state agencies to allow for exploration.  This process can take over 10 years to navigate especially if litigation is brought into the fold.

The main concern with exploration off-shore is the oil spill clean up mechanisms with potential harm to fisheries if a spill were to occur, and the effect on whale migration.  The coastal communities of Alaska rely heavily on fishing for subsistence and for jobs. The Inupiat natives of the Arctic rely heavily on whale for subsistence hunting and Mayor Edward Itta of the North Slope Borough testified today that he did not feel oil spill clean up technology was currently capable of cleaning up a spill on moving sea ice.  Current practices with any off-shore development are to avoid any exploration activity during the whale migration times.  The environmental regulations and laws set up by Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the MMS and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) among others are used to provide a foundation to meet environmental concerns and make sure any exploration taking place is done with the highest standards and best environmental practices. 

Richard Glenn a Barrow whaling captain and Vice President of Resources for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation the native owned regional corporation representing all of Alaska’s North Slope stated that he felt the industry has and continues to do its best in meeting environmental sensitivity.  He stated the natives had benefited from oil exploration in the Arctic over the past 30 years and by their continued participation in the debate, both on and off shore, were capable of helping to mitigate against environmental damage. 

During the testimony many views from both pro and con were voiced often from the same small coastal communities.  Some giving testimony even touched on the closely related ANWR issue.  However despite that exploration in the 10-02 Area of ANWR is on hold, current OCS activity will continue in Alaska as it has for the past decade in all the areas mentioned during testimony.  The future of Alaska economically with the dwindling supply of oil and hopes to construct a natural gas pipeline will make the OCS activity near certain.

For further information on the OCS in Alaska and nationally please visit the Minerals Management Service website at the following links:

http://www.mms.gov/alaska/fo/INDEX.HTM

http://www.mms.gov/alaska/native/aknative.htm