In the ongoing battle over
offshore drilling, a federal judge in Alaska told regulators Thursday to
redo an environmental impact study that underestimated the amount of
recoverable oil and, potentially, the risks to delicate Arctic habitat.
The decision by U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline stopped short of scrapping the $2.6 billion in leases, however. His ruling followed an appeals court decision in January that federal officials had arbitrarily decided drilling companies could extract 1 billion barrels of oil from the shallow waters off the northwest coast of Alaska. That figure led to a misguided environmental study, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said.
Now, the U.S. Department of the Interior must redo the supplemental analysis using what’s expected to be a much higher estimate for the amount of oil extractable. In the meantime, no drilling for oil or natural gas can take place.
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) called the order “good news," saying it “should lead to resumption of oil and gas development in our state’s promising offshore” by next summer.
Earth Justice attorney Erik Grafe, who opposes drilling and who helped bring the lawsuit, also hailed the decision. The opposing sides had worked for the past two months to negotiate a deal, which the judge adopted almost completely.
Grafe told the Los Angeles Times the redo was a “good outcome,” considering that the erroneous figure of 1 billion barrels “infected every part of the original analysis.”
He said the new report would likely show that oil companies would bring far more boats, planes, drill rigs and pipelines. As a result, he expects the analysis to show a much greater disturbance to the habitat of whales, walruses, polar bears and other animals. Read more...
The decision by U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline stopped short of scrapping the $2.6 billion in leases, however. His ruling followed an appeals court decision in January that federal officials had arbitrarily decided drilling companies could extract 1 billion barrels of oil from the shallow waters off the northwest coast of Alaska. That figure led to a misguided environmental study, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said.
Now, the U.S. Department of the Interior must redo the supplemental analysis using what’s expected to be a much higher estimate for the amount of oil extractable. In the meantime, no drilling for oil or natural gas can take place.
U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) called the order “good news," saying it “should lead to resumption of oil and gas development in our state’s promising offshore” by next summer.
Earth Justice attorney Erik Grafe, who opposes drilling and who helped bring the lawsuit, also hailed the decision. The opposing sides had worked for the past two months to negotiate a deal, which the judge adopted almost completely.
Grafe told the Los Angeles Times the redo was a “good outcome,” considering that the erroneous figure of 1 billion barrels “infected every part of the original analysis.”
He said the new report would likely show that oil companies would bring far more boats, planes, drill rigs and pipelines. As a result, he expects the analysis to show a much greater disturbance to the habitat of whales, walruses, polar bears and other animals. Read more...
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-arctic-drilling-new-environmental-report-20140424,0,1425267.story#ixzz2zrT7Wdmv
