By OGJ editors
WASHINGTON, DC, Aug. 15 -- Environmental and local land preservation groups have asked a US District court in Alaska to block exploratory drilling in the historic Katalla oil field within the Chugach National Forest.
Plaintiffs sued the US Forest Service (USFS), alleging the agency ignored key environmental considerations when it issued a special use permit to Anchorage-based Cassandra Energy Corp. last December. The groups filed the suit Aug. 12 after an administrative appeal to USFS failed earlier this year.
The area was drilled from 1902 to 1933, but later abandoned when the fields appeared to be depleted. Currently, some producers are betting that modern drilling techniques could yield new profits.
Long-running dispute
On April 21, 2001, Cassandra submitted an operating plan to the USFS to drill three directional wells on private land owned by the Native American group, Chugach Alaska Corp. (CAC), within the national forest. Under a 1982 settlement with the federal government, CAC's oil and gas rights in the forest expire on Dec. 31, 2004, unless the group has a producing well by that date.
Environmental groups and some local natives told the court that USFS violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it found that the project would have no significant impact on the local environment. The 10,000-acre area in question is east of Prince William Sound near a salmon-spawning area that plaintiffs argue will not be protected adequately under the permit.
USFS did not consider impacts from increased hunting and fishing that would happen after roads near the development site are rebuilt, environmentalists said. USFS also limited its review to one exploratory well, the lawsuit alleged. The groups also faulted USFS's oil spill response system, calling it inadequate because it lacks a blowout contingency plan.
Plaintiffs
The plaintiffs in the suit are Eyak Preservation Council, Alaska Center for the Environment, Cascadia Wildlands Project, National Wildlife Federation, and The Wilderness Society.
A Wilderness Society official in Alaska said if the district court in Alaska rules against the request to take away the USFS permit, then the case will be appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
The USFS declined comment. Meanwhile, Cassandra officials told the Anchorage Daily News that the lawsuit was expected, but it will not discourage the company from starting development in mid-September.
In its drilling application, Cassandra said it could drill the wells safely and without harming the environment. The plan calls for Cassandra to construct a drill pad on CAC land, 56 miles southeast of large commercial fishing interests in Cordova, the salmon-rich Copper River Delta region.
Equipment and supplies would be hauled via barges up the Katalla River and trucked 2.5 miles on an old USFS-access road that the company plans to recondition.
