testifies The central Arctic caribou herd, which in Washington

Bulk Rate

U.S. Postage

Anchorage, AK
Permit No. 377

ADDRESS
CROERQRUEECSTTIEODN

5 Resource Development Council for Alaska, lnc. Box 100516, Anchorage, AK 99510

November 1987 @- 722C

- Washington holds the key

Telephone: (907) 276 - 2636 Fluor Alaskaf Inc. RDC testifies The central Arctic caribou herd, which
Facsimile: (907) 279 - 6844 550 West 7th Avenue ' in Washington continues to calve across North Slope oil-
Anchoragef AK 99501 fields, has tripled in size over the past ten



No significant changes detected from development. $

A multi-yearstudy in the coastal waters ., -- , -. -' 1 -- .- , '
% + -
near Standard Alaska Production Corn- <, I <
-I. -> $ , '
- pany's Endicott project has revealed there L ,l ,\

has been no significant cha-nge in fish , ,,

movement or water quality in the , -, -> I -#
Sagavanirktok River delta.
4 , L, I
"Data shows there has been no signifi-
cant change in sedimentdepositionaround , The Permanent Fund -

the Endicott project area," said SAPC en- '.* .,, , 1- a golden calf, or an
vironmental scientist Pam Pope. "The two
engine for development
causeway breaches are accommodating ' ',' .
the coastal water mass and providing for

fish movements.''

The three-year monitoring programwas, Two points are becoming8clearer to

a stipulation in the Endicott construction the majority of Alaskans.

permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of I . The State's depression is very seri-

Engineers. It is one of the most extensive ous, very deep and most likely very long

programs of its kind ever conducted in lasting; which has caused and will con-

Alaska's arctic. At a cost of $5 million per tinue to cause grief, anguish and

I year, it is also one of the most expensive. economic annihilationfor largenumbers.
Although the monitoring program is fo-
1 2. A judicious use of the financial

cused on the Endicottproject area, fish and - The 'boreal"or northern forest is circumpolar,stretchingacross NorthAmerica, Northern strength of the Permanent Fund could
Europe and the Soviet Union. It is predominantly a coniferous forest, comprised of true
physical environmentalstudies encompass firs, pines and spruce, though deciduous species such as birch, aspen, cottonwoods and . ameliorate and reverse these dire

a coastal area of about 40 miles. Some willow are important components. Alaska is the prime repositorylof the boreal forest in economic consequences by giving

regional fish studies in the Colville River the United'States. Alaska the infrastructure necessary for

delta and the MacKenzie River expanded resource development, thereby creating

the study area to about 420 miles. jobs and a good economy. On November

"If the causeway or gravel islands were Photo by Frank Baker 10, William Winpisinger, International

going to make an impact on fish move- Productionstar&-uplast month at the new Endicottoilfield~10miles northeastof ~ r u d h o e President of the Machinists and Aero-
Bay culminated a five-year effort that cost a little more than $1 billion, about 40 percent
% suspect we have detected under budget. The Endicott reservoir contains an estimated 350 million barrel? of recov- space Workers Union, addressing Com-
erable oil and 1*5trillion cubic feet of natural gas. About-100,000 barrels of oil a day is
it during study partic'' being produced at the facility, which features two-offshoregravel islands linked to shore monwealth North, had this to say about
by a gravel causeway and an elevatedpipeline. More than 6.5million cubicyards of gravel
Iarly when the the Permanent Fund:
were used to build the islands, causeway and a 10-mile access road to Prudhoe Bay. -
' structures were present the perma- 'The Permanent Fund, itself, grows
Standard's Endicott is the first operating oilfield in the U.S. Beaufort Sea, a feat of which
nent breaches were installed," said Stan- we can all be proud. each year, but you have no industrial de-

dard,s Deb slaybaugh, senior Environm velopment strategy to put it to work for

scientist' During there was a Keyed'torenewableresources you. The Fund is an asset in and of itself.

total of 318 feet causeway opening, com- The Resource Development Council Education Foundation is gearing up for Isee no reasonwhy that PermanentFund
atwo-dayinternationalforestry symposiumdirectedat borealforest management.
pared to the permanent 700 feet. cannot be utilized to spread its bread
Featuringtechnical experts from Canada, Finland and the United States' Man- '
In addition to fish studies and ocean- agement of the Boreal Forest will be held December 3-4 at the Anchorage around to selected andtargetedbusines-
Clarion Hotel. The program is keyed to Alaska's renewable forest resources and
ographic profiles, SAPC is responsiblefor in central California, eastern New Mexico have on caribou movements. The 24-mile * their economic and entrepreneurial potentials. ses and industries so that they can stait-

monitoring snow geese and caribou near and Mexico. An estimated 450 adults return line has three gravel caribou prossings- 1 The program Will open Thursday with a presentation by Alaska State Forester up, expand, form exporting companies,
- John Galea: Other speakers include Dr. Edmond Packee, Assistant Professor of
the Endicott project. Howe Island, a one- , to the Alaskan arctic each spring to nest According to permit stipulations, the En- diversify, or go out and seek new mar-
Forest Management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Kenneth A. Armson'
mile-long island about one mile to the west on Howe Island to raise their broods in the dicott EnvFronmental Monitoring Program Ontario Provincial forester, Dr. Aarne Nyyssonen, Director of the Finnish Forest kets. Itcould beguaranteed bythe State's
Research Institute in Helsinki and Forester Dick Herring of Vancouver, B.C.
of the Endicott causeway, is the nesting , SagaVanirktok River delta area, will be continued for the life of the oilfield full faith and credit. And it may even be
Dr. Stewart Bledsoe, Executive Director of the Washington Forest Protection
site for the only establishedcolony of snow A study is also underway to assess what operations,-with the exception of the fish AssociationI,will deliver a keynote address, "Timber, Fish and Wildlife: Solving possible to get federal legislation that
a Political Dilemma."
geese in Alaska. Snow geese overwinter impacts, if any, the Endicott pipeline will study,.which was slatedto last sevenyears. would back your own State guarantee,
Other speakers include Dr. Douglas Rideout, Professor of- Forest Economics
at Colorado State University and Nick Salterelli-of Abitibi-Price Company of On- After all, Chrysler was a private corpora-
tario.
tion and received such a federal guaran-
The symposium continues Fridaywith CommissionerJudy Bradyof the Alaska
I Departmentof Natural Resources,CommissionerDennis Kelsoof the Department tee. Surely the Congress would do as
of Environmental Conservation and Commissioner Don Collinsworth (not con-
firmed) of the Department of Fish and Game. Other speakers include Senator much for the people of Alaska.
Jack CoghillI Rep. Sam Cotten' Senator Jalmar KerttulaI Rep. Nilo Koponen,
and Rep. John Sund. "But to leave that pool of money idle

The registration fee is $60. Call 276-0700 to register. in a time of economic depression seems

to me to be penny-wise and pound

foolish. Right now that money is being

shipped outside of Alaska as investment

ntinued from page 5) in other businesses-and enterprise in
of doing business in a modern society. Dent noted industry continues to improve on its
other states.
Page 6 1 RESOURCE REVIEW 1 November 1987
"Should the economic recession con-

tinue, you may well be asked to make a

choice by the citizenry: Which do you

value the most, the Fund or jobs? Jobs

make everything else possible in a mar-

ket economy. Case closed."

Amen. t

187 1 RESOURCE REVIEW 1 Page

-, -c -, I 1
/
,, I

STATE OF ALASKA ( \1 Morover, environmentalstudies will pro-

NATIONAL PARKS h WILDLIFE REFUQE teed during the lengthy exploration period,
$.<,: NATIONAL F O R E S T S Y S T E M
Jhe RDC testimony pointed out. Already,

'many years of industry sponsored field re- I

6 search in the arctic have made the North
'
I Slope one of the most studied ecosystems
in the world. These studies, many of which

- have been subject to agency participation

,,,, and review at every stage, have greatly
increased America's learning curve in arc-
tic oil and gas exploration and develop-

I ment.
I Focusing on Alaska's vast wilderness

,I ' lands, Henrisaidthat it iswrong for environ-

1I I , mental groupsto labelANWR as America's
I Izqt pristine wilderness area. He pointed

out that one could take the combined size

,I[ of nine New England and Mid-Atlantic
states and still not equalthe amount of land
I! 1I1
', - ' 0v;r 60percent of ~ l a s k aland belongs that has been set-aside as designated
to 1 the federal government and produces Wildernessl national parks and wildlife
<'

*I little revenue to suppot? state and local ser- refuges in Alaska.
I Approximately 60 percentof Alaska land
,. vices. 220 million acres of,federal lands belongsto the federal government and pro-
I duces little revenue to support state and
- - within 'Alaska alone would comprise the
' second largest state in the union, Much of
:1) j this land is forever off-limits to resource + 1 local services. Much of this area is forever pects in the section 1002 area, most of the ANWR Coastal Plain would remain wild. With
full development, 99 percent of the area would remain undisturbed. Of the 600,000 acres
I development. ' off-limits to economic development.
within the unit boundaries of North Slope oilfields, only 8,160 acres are occupied.
1, A great majority of Alaskans feel that
the small area of ANWR proposedfor leas-
I
ply comes from the Persian Gulf area giant Prudhoe Bay discovery was made in
t b 1 ing can be developedresponsiblyand thus today, it has been estimated that by 1995 1968. It took nearly ten years of additional
1!I help their struggling economy. Such de- up to 60 percent of U.S. consumption may hard work, pioneeringengineering and en-
-I m IN come from that unstable region. vironmental studies before Prudhoe Bay
velopment would also have a positive im- was finally brought into production. With
, ' (continuedfrom page 1) Prudhoe Bay to provide constant monitor- pact on nationalsecurity and the economy. Responding to a claim that the esti- six billion barrels of productionsince 1977,
ing capability. 1 - A major field on the Coastal Plain could cut mated 19 percent odds of finding oil in the Prudhoe Bay' has been a vital part of
- envirorim~nta~l~~~moaunndr in the arc- ' velopment," Henri said. "A wide range of wildlife refuge are not promisingenough to America's energy equation. If we had given
Concerns that the Coastal Plain would [, I America's energy bill for imported oil by justify the risks, Henri said the stated up our search for oil after the first ten dry
tic, Henri strongly supported full leasing measurescan beemployedduringfull leas- lose all its wilderness qualities if full leasing $38 billion annually, making a significant chances are excellent and among the best holes were drilled, where would America
occurred drew a sharp response from in the world. He explained that in frontier be right now'?"
-along the Coastal Plain of ANWR. ing activitiesto effectively-mitigateadverse Henri. impact on the nationaldeficit. Furthermore, areas such as Alaska, a two to four percent
likelihood is considered sufficient to justify In concluding, Henri emphasized that
- -, "Prudhoe Bay and more. recent North impacts," he continued. "Phasedleasingon "It may surprise some, but the majority 1 development of a - major ANWR oilfield Congress must allow the 49th state to con-
of the Section 1002 portion of the Coastal exploration. tinue to play its pivotal role in providing
- Slope oil production have proved that the the other hand, would prevent long-term, Plain would actually remain untouched as could create as many as 250,000 new jobs "Americai must not forget the many dry America's energy needs.
most of the land in America's largest oil
' , extractionof oilon a grandscalecan indeed unifiedenvironmentalprotectionplanning." field to the west," he said. He explained nationwide by the year 2005, generating holes drilled on the North Slope before the
, coexist with the,environ~entand wildlife," An emerging compromise bill calls for that even under a full leasing scenario and
Henri, said, "The starkddisaster predicted assuming development of several major 1 over $6 billion in annual salaries, Estimates
phased leasing and the drilling of only four prospects in the 1002 area, most of the
Coastal Plain~wouldremain wild. In fact, I of net national economic benefits range as
- for the caribou and the arctic ecology never exploratory wells after which the White less than Gne percent of the land mass
- - .m.a.terialized.", - House would decide whether leasing for would be affected, Henri emphasized. high as $325 billion.
Even with optimistic full development, 99
k, percent of the. area would remain undis- However, "Americans live today in a
turbed. . transitory fool's paradise of ineypensive,
' However, environmentaliststestifying in - ,development could proceed. The ---:?&+,
W&hingto~ challenged the industry's re- '6exploratory-first"policy, unveiled by Rep.
1 plentiful gasoline," Henri said.
-- %,'cord and ,claimed America doesn't need - Walter Jones, lhas been termed "unwork-
-more Alaska oill despite ever-increasingoil able" by development and non-develop- f -, Domesticoil reserves are at their lowest
imports. > levels in over 30 years and U.S. depen-
ment interests. - dency onf imported oil is rising to record
- If the "crying woi" claiqs made b i the .I < levels. Crude imports in July reached 46.5
. ,RDC shpports the present system percent of domestic deliveries, a seven-
' environmental community were accuratd, where the industryleasesan area, explores , year high. By 1990, import levels are likely
to exceed 50 percentof our daily consump-
, 1 "Prudhoe Bay, ~Kuparukand other Worth foi oil and produces it if the crude is found I tion.

' - Slope oilfields would be biological waste- , and judged economic by the companies 1 "Wh,iIe non-developmentfanatics apply After twenty years of petroleum exploration and production on Alaska's North Slope,
great energy to discourage development America's oil industry has compiled a sterling environmental record which provides over-
.- landsll' Henri said. "Those of you who footing the bill. The Council noted as many whelming evidence development poses no significant threat to arctic ecology or wildlife.
visited the-North Slope this summer know as 30 wells could be needed to define the of America's most prospective oil and gas - As proof of its commitment to environmentally sound operations, the industry has
region, Americans watch the evening news released several reports detailing its environmental record at Prudhoe Bay.
g this is definitely not the case." size of any field. and readfront page headlinesof the explo-
The latest example is a new 28-pagefull-color booklet produced by ARCO Alaska, lnc.
Given industry's ability to confine oper- , Remember, the super-giant Prudhoe sive situation in the Persian Gulf," Henri The ARC0 report focuses on factual information pertaining to the Prudhoe Bay and
said. "Environmental groupstell uswe don't Kuparuk fields and measurestaken to even improveon the industry'senvironmentalrecord
ations to very small areas andthe capability Baydiscovery was madeafter ten dry holes need Alaska oil, but America and her allies at the Lisburne and Endicott fields.
find ourselves increasingly dependent on
to employ state-of-the-arttechnology to as- were drilled on the North Slope. unreliable foreign sources for oil." ARCO, operator of the eastern half of the Prudhoe Bay field as well as the Kuparuk
Regardingthe permittingprocess, Henri and Lisburne fields, spends between five and ten percent of its entire annual operating
sure free caribou movementl "the Re- budget on environmental protection. In operating the western half of the Prudhoe Bay
field and the new Endicottfield,StandardAlaska ProductionCompany also spends millions
'7 - source Development Council believes full reminded Washington lawmakersthat site- of dollars annually on environmental measures. In addition, stringent federal and equally
specific environmental studies are con-
, ' leasing of the Cpastal Plain is the most ducted for small and large projects on the strict state regulationshave evolvedto ensure protectionof North Slope natural resources.
appropriate alternative, not phased leas- The ARC0 publication noted that three levels of government regulate all North Slope oil
, ing," Henri &id.z"ln addition,,the evolution ' North Slope. He said various alternatives field activities. Major development projects may require permits from as many as nine
5 ' of comprehensive federal and state en- and modifications are always considered, environmental agencies.
Whether or notthe PersianGulf situation
.- vironmental regulations will guard against and manystipulations,includingmonitoring gets out of hand, Henri said it is prudent (continued on page 6)

detrimental effects." \, programs, are required as part of a permit for America to guardagainst economiccon- November 1987 I RESOURCE REVIEW I Page 5
sequences from an interruption in foreign
t The RDC chief stressed that phased issuance.
imports. Alaska's potentially awesome
, ,leasing would needlessly hamstringindus- More than ever enforcement of regula- ANWR reserves would be a key ingredient

, -try's ability to find and extract oil, in an tions,andpermitconditionsis monitoredon in such a plan.
' , economic, efficient and timely manner. "It . a continualbasis by local, state and federal
I ,, , would piecemealplanningand potentialde- agencies, many which maintain offices at
Although ten percent of the U.S. oil sup-

'-

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- page 4 1 RESOUVCE REVIEW / November 1987 ,
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