US Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) has urged Secretary of the Interior Dirk A. Kempthorne to postpone the Minerals Management Service’s sale of leases in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska for a year until the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decides whether to list the polar bear as an endangered species. Otherwise, Markey threatened, he would introduce legislation to compel the administration of President George W. Bush to do just that.
Markey’s remarks came during a hearing on possible Arctic offshore oil development impacts on polar bears by the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which he chairs. He called it after FWS said on Jan. 7 that it would not announce its decision until after the Feb. 6 lease sale. FWS said the delay was necessary because the agency reopened and extended the comment period after US Geological Survey scientists submitted new studies and data in September.
FWS Director H. Dale Hall testified that oil and gas development would not threaten polar bears but said a delay was needed to fully review the thousands of comments received.
Ranking Minority Member F. James Sensenbrunner (R-Wis.) said the polar bear already is protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Inslee said it would not be possible for MMS to withdraw leases or modify terms if the bear goes on the endangered species list after the sale and expressed concern over the lease sale’s environmental impact statement, which said there was a 31-53% chance of a 1,000 bbl oil spill if leasing takes place in the Chukchi Sea.
MMS Alaska Regional Director John Gall said the agency expects no significant spills within the sale area, saying the last spill from an oil platform was in 1980. “We’ve been very successful in preventing oil spills since them.”
MMS Director Randall Luthi said the agency requires lessees to supply detailed information about mitigation and monitoring programs for protected species before any drilling begins. Leaseholders also must obtain permits from the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators and ensure that their plans are consistent with the Alaska coastal zone management program, he added.
“The MMS also has a robust regulatory system designed to prevent accidents and oil spills from occurring. This includes redundant well control equipment, emergency plans for ice conditions, production safety systems, and much more. In Alaska, an MMS inspector is onboard drilling rigs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during critical drilling operations,” Luthi said in his written statement.
Steven Amstrup, who leads the polar bear team at USGS, said he expects negative impacts on the animal from sea ice destruction to continue but that more research is needed. Others noted that the polar ice cap is melting more quickly than originally estimated and has shrunk by 20% since the 1970s.
The Center for Biological Diversity submitted the original petition to list the polar bear as endangered in 2005. A panel of witnesses said the decision has been repeatedly delayed despite an increasingly obvious threat to polar bears from global warming in general and oil and gas development in particular.
