Report: Arctic drilling would pose risks to wildlife

Interior Department contradicts oil companies' claims

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Friday, March 29, 2002

WASHINGTON -- Oil development in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may pose substantial risk to caribou and other wildlife, a government review concludes, contrary to claims made by oil drilling advocates.

The assessment, to be released today, was developed by scientists at the Interior Department who reviewed 12 years of research on wildlife in the refuge in northeastern Alaska.

The report is likely to play a key role in the upcoming Senate debate over whether oil companies should have access to the crude believed to lie beneath the refuge's 1.5 million-acre coastal plain.

While the study makes no recommendation on whether the refuge should be developed, it concludes that the region's wildlife would be disturbed by drilling.

The 78-page report was developed by scientists at the U.S. Biological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, both agencies within the Interior Department, and peer-reviewed by outside scientists.

Interior Secretary Gale Norton repeatedly has said that the refuge's oil can be extracted without harm to the environment or the region's wildlife, arguing that modern drilling techniques can minimize the intrusion. The report contradicts that assessment..

The study raises concern over the refuge's musk oxen, which it says are vulnerable because they live there all year, including the winter months when oil exploration will be under way.

As to the millions of migratory birds that use the coastal plain, the study raises concern about the impact of aircraft traffic that will come with development and the lack of alternative feeding areas for snow geese that may be displaced. It cannot be assumed the geese will find adequate feeding areas elsewhere, the study says.

The study concludes that polar bears, another fixture on the coastal plain, also might be adversely affected.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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