Public Meeting Schedule Set For Greater Mooses Tooth Unit Project in National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska

Anchorage-The BLM has scheduled public meetings and subsistence hearings this month to gather comments on the proposed Greater Mooses Tooth Unit 1 (GMT1) oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A).

Meetings will be held in Anchorage, Fairbanks and in several villages on the North Slope of Alaska between March 10 and March 20. A full schedule is provided below.

·         March 10: Point Lay Community Center. Open House 4-6, Meeting/Hearing 6 p.m.

·         March 11: Atqasuk Community Center. Open House 3:30-5, Meeting/Hearing 6:30 p.m.

·         March 12: Barrow NSB Assembly Chambers. Open House 4-6, Meeting/Hearing 6 p.m.

·         March 13: Nuiqsut Kisik Community Center. Open House 4-6, Meeting/Hearing, 6 p.m.

·         March 17: Wainwright Community Center. Open House 4-6, Meeting/Hearing     6 p.m.

·         March 18: Anaktuvuk Pass Community Center. Open House 4-6, Meeting/Hearing 6 p. m.

·         March 19: Fairbanks BLM Fairbanks District Office Kobuk Room. Open House 4-6, Meeting 6 pm.

·         March 20: Anchorage Campbell Creek Science Center. Open House 4-6, Meeting 6 p.m.

The BLM released a draft environmental review for the proposed project on February 21, 2014, launching a public comment period through April 22, 2014. The public meetings in North Slope villages will also serve as hearings on potential impacts to subsistence resources as required by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act Section 810.

In July 2013, ConocoPhillips, Alaska, Inc. (CPAI) submitted an application for a right-of-way grant and related authorizations to construct a drill site, pipelines and other facilities to support development of petroleum resources within the Greater Mooses Tooth (GMT) Unit.

The project as proposed by CPAI would include construction of an 11.8-acre drill pad, an 8-mile access road, above-ground elevated pipelines and an electric power line connecting the GMT1 drill pad to CPAI’s CD-5 drill pad currently under development. The GMT1 pad would have a capacity for up to 33 production wells including several injection wells, and be located on a federal oil and gas lease previously issued by BLM under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act (NPRPA). The project proposes to access federal oil and gas resources, as well as resources owned by the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.

The proposed development was originally analyzed in the BLM’s 2004 Alpine Satellite Development Plan (ASDP) and is also subject to the 2012 NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan (IAP). The BLM has prepared a draft supplement to the ASDP to evaluate any relevant new circumstances and information which have arisen since 2004. 

The draft plan is available on the BLM website at http://www.blm.gov/ak/GMTU1. Public comments can also be submitted by any of the following methods:

·          email:        gmt1comments@slrconsulting.com

·          fax:           (907) 271- 3933

·          mail:         GMT1 Draft SEIS Comments

Attn: Bridget Psarianos

222 West 7^th Avenue, Stop #13

                        Anchorage, Alaska 99513.

·          In person at the BLM Public Information Center at 222 W. 7^th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99513.

If you have questions about the public comment process, please call Bridget Psarianos, BLM-Alaska Project Lead at (907) 271-4208.

Documents pertinent to this proposal may also be examined at the BLM Fairbanks District Office, 1150 University Avenue, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709; and the BLM Alaska State Office Public Room, 222 West 7^th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99513.