19-02-04 Seven environmental groups are suing Interior Secretary Gale Norton
to block a plan to open 8.8 mm acres to oil and gas development in an area
important to migratory birds, whales and wildlife. The groups, including the
National Audubon Society, Wilderness Society, Sierra Club and the Alaska
Wilderness League, say they are seeking a more balanced plan for the area, at
the northeast corner of the 22.5 mm-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Geologists believe the reserve may contain 6 bn to 13 bn barrels of oil. Critics
contend the oil would be costly to recover and amount to no more than nine
months of the nation's fuel supply.
The federal lawsuit, filed in Juneau, also names the Interior Department, the
Bureau of Land Management and Henri Bisson, the bureau's Alaska director.
"The department's plan for developing energy in the National Petroleum
Reserve is a responsible plan that supports conservation and allows the
production of resources for a vibrant economy and a healthy environment,"
said Mark Pfeifle, a spokesman for the Interior Department in Washington, DC.
The plan designates study areas for caribou and birds, and protects another
1.5 mm acres along the coast and some lakes and rivers. Environmentalists say
those are only temporary.
"They're just smoke and mirrors," said Eleanor Huffines, Alaska
regional director for The Wilderness Society. Much of the north-eastern section
of the reserve already is open to oil and gas exploration, but under tight
restrictions with some areas fenced off.
Source: The Associated Press