Exploratory oil and gas drilling and seismic exploration move forward in the Western Arctic

The Bureau of Land Management published on its website a draft environmental assessment yesterday for drilling and seismic exploration activities proposed by ConocoPhillips in the Western Arctic. There was otherwise no apparent effort to notify the public or groups that had requested information specifically about the project so they would know it was available, or that the brief comment period had begun.

The one-year project covered by the environmental study would include a 300-square-mile seismic program plus the drilling of four new exploration wells inside the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the largest mostly intact tract of public land in the United States.

The move is part of a larger push by the Trump administration and Congress to maximize oil-and-gas development not only in the Western Arctic, but all across the Arctic, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore in the High Arctic. As those efforts move forward, oil companies are simultaneously ramping up exploratory drilling and damaging seismic work in both the Western Arctic and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

BLM says some of ConocoPhillips’ Western Arctic exploration-related activities could begin as soon as this month. The proposed area includes Teshekpuk Lake and the Colville River Special Areas. These Western Arctic lands were provided additional protections under the Biden administration from oil and gas drilling as ecologically sensitive areas that are important for globally significant populations of migratory birds, the Teshekpuk Lake Caribou Herd, and for subsistence uses for nearby Alaska Native communities. Based on prior media reporting, the drilling sites are aimed at developing infrastructure to tie into ConocoPhillips’ massive Willow development, which is now under construction.

The environmental study acknowledges adverse effects may occur within those areas because of drilling and seismic activities, and as a result, a statement of adverse effects will have to be prepared to disclose the risk and harm. Some of the known harms from seismic activity include permafrost destruction, long-lasting damage to vegetation and water drainage, and other negative effects to wildlife.

BLM has announced a mere one-week comment period, with comments due November 17.  This truncated comment period comes after repeated requests from conservation and other groups for additional information about the program, which were met largely with silence.

“The public deserves the right to have a say on what happens on these critically important public lands in the Western Arctic,” said Earthjustice attorney Ian Dooley. “Seismic and drilling activities can cause impacts on this sensitive ecosystem that lasts decades. We will be pushing for more than a perfunctory public comment period and to protect these irreplaceable public lands.”

Background 

The Western Arctic is the nation’s largest intact tract of public land and remains largely undeveloped. It covers 23 million acres of diverse habitats, ranging from tundra and wetlands to mountain foothills, grassy uplands, riparian areas, and river deltas. The region is home to iconic and imperiled wildlife species like polar bears and seals that depend on sea ice and includes habitat for caribou and other species that are central to the cultural practices and food security of nearby Indigenous communities. The Western Arctic also attracts migratory birds from every continent on earth, and hosts some of the highest densities of breeding shorebirds in the world.