Arctic Refuge Damaged, Scientists Find
WASHINGTON — As Congress prepares to consider opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas production, an elite scientific panel reported Tuesday that 30 years of energy development in Alaska had already damaged the region's environment and culture.
Despite enormous strides by the oil industry and regulatory agencies in minimizing environmental effects, the consequences of development have been mounting over the years, according to the report, which was conducted by the National Academies' National Research Council at the request of Congress.
Noise from seismic exploration has displaced migrations of bowhead whales and forced subsistence hunters farther out to sea to capture them, the report said.
In addition, the report found that the massive network of roads constructed to support the industry has harmed the tundra, caused flooding and altered animal habitat and behavior.
The report also noted that as companies have switched to three-dimensional survey methods, the off-road seismic vehicles used for oil exploration require a greater density of trails. The new technique creates greater erosion, water flow and damage to vegetation, the report found.
"[B]ecause the seismic trails are readily visible, especially from the air, they affront the residents and degrade the visual experience of the landscape," the report states.
However, contrary to the fears of many, there is no evidence of accumulated effects from oil spills, the panel found.
The extensive report, the first to thoroughly explore the cumulative impact of energy development in Alaska's North Slope, will feed the coming congressional debates on permitting development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
President Bush and GOP congressional leaders are pressing to open the refuge to drilling as a means of bolstering domestic energy production.
Most congressional Democrats and a handful of Republicans ardently oppose such a move. In 2001, the House passed a measure to allow drilling in the refuge, but the legislation was blocked by the Senate, which was then in Democratic hands.
The first test of the new Senate's attitude toward drilling in the refuge is expected later this month. The fiscal year 2004 budget resolution is expected to include a provision anticipating money from development in the refuge. Opponents to drilling will try to strike the provision.
- A Curious Commemoration Mar 17, 2003
- U.S. to Study Prospects in Alaska Oil Reserve Jan 15, 1997
- Budget Increase for National Refuges Urged Jan 22, 2002
