Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 20 OctOber 2017

Oil company proposes Arctic drilling from artificial island

By DAN JOLING corp anticipates extracting
Associated Press 60,000 to 70,000 barrels per
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) day for a total recovery of
— America within a few 80 million to 150 million bar-
years could be extract- rels over 15 to 20 years.
ing oil from federal waters Oil would reach shore by a
in the Arctic Ocean, but pipe encased by a second
it won't be from a remote pipe and equipped with a
drilling platform. leak detection systems. It
Federal regulators are tak- would be buried to prevent
ing comments on a draft gouging by moving ice.
environmental statement At the end of production,
for the Liberty Project, a the company would re-
proposal by a subsidiary of move equipment and the
Houston-based Hilcorp to wall and let waves and ice
create an artificial gravel dismantle the island.
island that would hold pro- At a public hearing on the
duction wells, a processing project last week, Joshua
facility and the start of an Kendrick, an attorney for
undersea pipeline carrying the Alaska Oil and Gas As-
oil to shore and connec- This undated illustration provided by Hilcorp Alaska Inc. shows a model of an artificial gravel island sociation, said opposition
of the Liberty Project, a proposal to drill in Arctic waters from the artificial island.
tions to the trans-Alaska Associated Press testimony has focused on
pipeline. rhetoric. Liberty would be
The drilling would be the ground, where it won't add into Cook Inlet, visible from tion Alaska drilled at the the 19th artificial drilling is-
first in federal Arctic waters greenhouse gases that the air, was a national em- site in 1997 and sold 50 per- land in Alaska, including
since Royal Dutch Shell, contribute to global warm- barrassment for Alaska," cent of the assets to Hilcorp four now pumping oil from
amid protest both in the ing and the melting of sea she said. in 2014. state waters. Decisions
United States and abroad, ice, the habitat of polar The gas leaked from a The island's base on the should be made by data
in 2015 sent down an ex- bears and walruses. They pipeline supplying fuel to ocean floor would be 24 and science, he said, and
ploratory well in the Chuk- say spills are inevitable and Hilcorp production plat- acres, about the size of 18 Hilcorp is not proposing
chi Sea off Alaska's north- cannot be cleaned up in forms. The company con- football fields, with sloped something novel.
west coast. icy Arctic water. firmed the leak in February sides leading to a work sur- "This isn't venturing into new
Supporters like its chances. Opponents also ques- and lowered pressure in the face of 9 acres, the size of waters. Anyone who sells
A final decision is in the tion Hilcorp's safety re- line but waited until April to nearly seven football fields. fear or the least likely out-
hands of Interior Secretary cord. State authorities this make repairs because of Trucks would travel by ice come to discourage these
Ryan Zinke. President Barak year fined the company the threat to divers from road to a hole cut in sea types of investments com-
Obama in December $200,000 for violations at floating ice. ice and deposit 83,000 cu- ing forward is doing a dis-
signed an executive order another production site. The Alaska Department of bic yards (63,450 million cu- service to Alaska, doing a
designating the bulk of U.S. Hilcorp also waited sev- Environmental Conserva- bic meters) of gravel into disservice to the public," he
Arctic Ocean waters indef- eral months to address an tion to date has found no 19 feet (6 meters) of water said.
initely off-limits to future oil undersea pipeline leak- evidence the leak harmed to create the island. A wall Andy Mack, commissioner
and gas leasing. But Presi- ing millions of cubic feet birds, fish or marine mam- would fend off ice, waves of the state Department of
dent Donald in April signed of processed natural gas mals. and wildlife. Natural Resources, said the
another order aimed at in Alaska's Cook Inlet be- The latest project is on fed- The island would be 5.6 body of information built
reversing the policy. Zinke cause of danger to divers, eral leases sold in the 1990s. miles (9 kilometers) off up from wells on gravel is-
said Trump's actions would Lois Epstein, Arctic program Hilcorp proposes to create shore. The surface would lands in state waters should
put the country on track for director for The Wilderness the island about 15 miles have room for 16 wells, in- give people comfort about
energy independence. Society, said at an Anchor- (24 kilometers) east of Prud- cluding five to eight con- Liberty's effects on marine
Opponents say Arctic off- age hearing. hoe Bay, North America's ventional production wells. mammals and the environ-
shore oil should stay in the "This ongoing gas release largest oil field. BP Explora- At peak production, Hil- ment. q