Arctic

by The Associated Press Thursday, February 04, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- U.S. Rep. Don Young has introduced a bill aimed at studying the potential for an Arctic deep water port. The measure is a companion bill to one introduced in December by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Young, a fellow Alaska Republican, says the measure will provide for a two-year study to determine strategic capabilities for an Arctic port and a favorable location. Young says the United States has the opportunity to address the prospects of future industry and can use changing Arctic conditions its advantage.

by The Associated Press Tuesday, June 8, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- NASA is launching a mission from Alaska next month, but it won't be into space. The agency will take to the sea June 15 from Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians on its first dedicated oceanographic field campaign. The voyage is billed as an up-close look at how changing conditions in the Arctic are affecting ocean chemistry and ecosystems that play a critical role in global climate change. More than 40 scientists will spend five weeks on board the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, the country's most technologically advanced polar icebreaker.

A draft report prepared for the federal commission investigating the Gulf of Mexico oil spill says there are still questions about Shell Oil's ability to respond to an emergency in Arctic waters -- but it acknowledges that Shell has made preparations beyond those required. While the report is still a work in progress, it offers an idea of what the commission is thinking as it puts together final recommendations. In regards to Shell's exploratory drilling plans in the Beaufort Sea, the Arctic spill response report says that Shell acknowledges the numerous challenges of dealing with a spill.

by Jeremy Hsieh The Associated Press Friday, May 7, 2010 JUNEAU, Alaska -- The chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission is resigning to run for lieutenant governor of Alaska. Mead Treadwell filed his candidacy papers Friday. His resignation from the commission will be effective after its June meeting. In his resignation letter to President Obama, Treadwell says he's frustrated by Washington's inaction to the commission's urgent calls for action and funding to research oil spills and rural suicide.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited Barrow Wednesday as part of a whirlwind tour of the state, saying lessons learned after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will be applied to prevent a disaster during exploratory drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Salazar was joined on his trip to Barrow, Denali National Park and Fairbanks by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed. After getting off a plane, Salazar spoke with reporters in Anchorage about Shell Oil's plans after the company was given a conditional exploration permit to drill four wells in the Beaufort Sea. The permits are also contingent on several other federal permits.

The Coast Guard wants to see if an advanced new tool can help travel through Arctic waters. A 28-foot jet boat is about to take a dip in Cook Inlet to simulate conditions up north. The Coast Guard says it's trying to find a vessel that works well in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, especially near the shoreline. The jet boat can operate in shallow, silty water. And if the weather turns bad, the Coast Guard says the boat can handle 8-foot swells and 35-mph winds. Right now, the Coast Guard does not have any permanent assets in the Arctic.

Interview by Megan Baldino Friday, July 2, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- From oil legislation to financial regulation reform, U.S. lawmakers have a busy agenda after the 4th of July break. Alaska Sen. Mark Begich is back in the state for the week, and joined Channel 2 to talk about some of these upcoming issues. Channel 2 News: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is obviously is raising a lot of questions about future development of oil and gas in our nation. You plan on introducing two pieces of oil legislation when you get back from break.

Alaska officials want the Obama administration to lift a moratorium on drilling in the Arctic after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave the green light for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Gov. Sean Parnell and other Alaska officials say Alaska's 2011 drilling season is at stake if the ban on shallow water drilling in the Beaufort Sea isn’t lifted. “Alaska is being treated differently with no rational basis or explanation and the 2011 drilling season is at stake right now,” said Parnell in a phone interview.

Shell oil secured another important permit needed to drill in the offshore Arctic this summer. The company found out it was granted an EPA air permit for the second of its two drilling rigs, Friday. A handful of applications and other permissions are still in the works, but Shell says it's now secured all of the major permits needed to explore for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas starting in July. Meanwhile, a report released Friday by the federal Government Accountability Office raised concerns about the risks associated with offshore drilling in the Arctic.

The Obama Administration's new Arctic strategy would make the region a top priority despite rumors that the Coast Guard is withdrawing due to a lack of maritime commercial traffic. It's a rumor that Coast Guard officials deny, although they admit cutbacks are coming. “It's important for the public to understand that the Coast Guard is committed to having a presence in the Arctic,” said Veronica Colbath, Coast Guard Public Affairs Officer.  “We are working under current budget constraints, but we know that the region is extremely important.” Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell says despite the cutbacks, the Coast Guard will continue to serve the region.

It's the presence of Alaska that allows the United States to be considered an arctic nation. On Friday, the Obama administration released a new Arctic strategy that states the country's priorities in the arctic region.   "I think this is the time Alaska is being recognized as an important part to the United States as the United States cannot be an Arctic nation without Alaska," Senator Mark Begich said. "This plan is an important tool that we will now use to push for Arctic development.

A nine-year-old boy riding a snowmachine Saturday afternoon fell into into a crevasse in the Arctic Man races near the Hoodoo Mountains and is presumed dead, according to Alaska State Troopers. Troopers say that Shjon Brown, (first name pronounced “Shawn,”) of Fairbanks, was riding about five miles northwest of Arctic Man and fell into a crevasse about 200 feet deep around 3:30 p.m. Saturday. He was wearing a helmet and goggles at the time of the incident. “It's presumed that the child is deceased underneath the snowmachine underneath the snow,” Megan Peters, Alaska State Troopers, spokesperson said.

NASA says "after a record melt season, an Arctic cyclone, and a fascinating fracturing event, Arctic sea ice has reached its maximum extent for the year. Contact Neil Torquiano

Alaska State Troopers intervened in some late-night festivities carried too far at the Arctic Man event near Paxson Thursday, arresting a woman after fireworks were “shot horizontally between campsites.” A Friday AST dispatch says Bureau of Highway Patrol troopers responded just before 11:30 p.m. Thursday to the disturbance at the popular event. “During the investigation Jasmine Wells, age 31 of Delta Junction, attempted to flee and when confronted by Troopers she spilled alcohol on the Troopers and hit a Trooper in the chest,” troopers wrote.

What could drilling do to the Arctic Ocean?  That's what an expanded environmental impact statement is looking into. In March, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a second draft study of oil and gas activities in the arctic and is now seeking public comment.  The 1,500-page study explores the effects of offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic Ocean, including exploratory drilling and geological geophysical surveys in the Chuchki and Beaufort seas.   “It looks at multiple activities over multiple years and evaluates their effects on marine mammals, on subsistence uses of those marine mammals and looks at different levels of activity,” said Jolie Harrison of the NMFS.

Sally Jewell could become Alaska's new landlord of federal lands. By a vote of 87 to 11, the U.S. Senate has confirmed REI's 56-year-old CEO Jewell as the next interior secretary -- a position that has big implications for Alaska. “The Secretary of the Interior is probably one of the most influential federal positions for Alaska,” said Tim Woody, Alaska Communications Manager of The Wilderness Society.  "That position has authority over everything from access to lands, oil and gas, minerals, off-shore fisheries.” Despite the fact that Jewell has never served in public office, groups for and against development here in Alaska are cautiously optimistic that she's the right person for the job. “She's coming from the business world, but she's managed a hugely successful outdoor equipment company,” said Woody.  “She's got a long record in that role being involved in a lot of public land issues.” “In some ways she'll be challenged because she probably won't know the ins and outs of the federal bureaucracy to the extent a tenured interior official might,” said Rick Rogers, Executive Director of the Resource Development Council.

On Wednesday, several representatives from around the state and nation met to discuss what challenges lay ahead in the Arctic in light of increased traffic there, as well as the economic benefits. Sen. Mark Begich, chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, held a field hearing on increased Arctic marine activity at the University of Alaska Anchorage. The hearing was also attended by representatives of the Interior Department, the Coast Guard and Shell Oil. The U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System says diminished sea ice in the Arctic is creating a growing potential for commercial shipping, but new standards and infrastructure are needed.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the findings from a 60-day review of Shell Oil's Arctic offshore drilling operations Thursday, saying the company “screwed up” in 2012 and that it won't be allowed to continue work until it satisfies federal requirements. The review focused on several issues involving Shell's operations, including problems in Puget Sound testing with the spill-response barge Arctic Challenger's cleanup dome, which delayed its deployment to Alaska.

Responding to a series of high-profile incidents involving its assets for Arctic Ocean offshore drilling, Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced a “pause” in its 2013 drilling program in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas Wednesday. The decision comes the day after the conical drilling unit Kulluk, which suffered hull damage in a New Year's Eve grounding off Sitkalidak Island near Kodiak, was taken under tow by three tugs for a 10-day trip to Dutch Harbor. After being transferred to a drydock, the Kulluk will then head to Asia for repairs.