00Enrolled HJR 29                                                                                                         
01 Urging the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to plug                                 
02 legacy wells properly and to reclaim the legacy well sites as soon as possible in order to                              
03 protect the environment in the Arctic region; and requesting the Office of the Governor to                              
04 increase nationwide awareness about legacy wells and well sites.                                                        
05                                         _______________                                                                 
06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
07      WHEREAS the United States Navy and the United States Geological Survey drilled                                   
08 approximately 137 wells on federal land in northern Alaska between 1944 and 1981, all of                                
09 which are now abandoned; and                                                                                            
10      WHEREAS the United States Bureau of Land Management is the current operator of                                   
11 the abandoned wells, now referred to as legacy wells; and                                                               
12      WHEREAS only seven of the legacy wells have been properly plugged and                                            
13 reclaimed; and                                                                                                          
14      WHEREAS the remaining legacy wells are out of compliance with the regulations                                    
15 adopted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and 42 of the remaining legacy                               
16 wells are flagrantly out of compliance; and                                                                             

01      WHEREAS three of the legacy wells can no longer be found; and                                                    
02      WHEREAS the changing geography of the Arctic puts additional legacy wells at risk                                
03 of being lost before remediation can occur; and                                                                         
04      WHEREAS the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has repeatedly                                            
05 reminded the federal government of the obligation to plug legacy wells properly and to                                  
06 reclaim legacy well sites; and                                                                                          
07      WHEREAS the legacy wells that have not been properly plugged and reclaimed pose                                  
08 a significant risk to surface vegetation, groundwater, fish, land mammals, and sea mammals;                             
09 and                                                                                                                     
10      WHEREAS wood and metal debris and deteriorating buildings at the sites of the                                    
11 legacy wells litter the landscape and detract from the natural beauty of the Arctic region; and                         
12      WHEREAS the federal government has received $9,480,946,486 from lease sales in                                   
13 the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska and the outer continental shelf of the state and                                
14 should use a portion of those funds to plug and reclaim legacy wells in the state; and                                  
15      WHEREAS the state cannot impose fines on the federal government for violating the                                
16 regulations of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but if it could do so, the                               
17 fines would exceed $8,000,000,000; if the statute of limitations were disregarded, the fines                            
18 would exceed $40,000,000,000; and                                                                                       
19      WHEREAS both state and federal regulations require the plugging and reclamation of                               
20 legacy wells, and the federal government would not allow a private entity to remain in                                  
21 violation of those regulations;                                                                                         
22      BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                         
23 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to plug legacy wells properly and to                             
24 reclaim the legacy well sites as soon as possible in order to protect the environment in the                            
25 Arctic region; and be it                                                                                                
26      FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                     
27 Office of the Governor to disseminate information through appropriate national news outlets                             
28 and by other available means to increase awareness nationwide of the dangerous conditions of                            
29 the legacy wells and legacy well sites in the state and the federal government's failure to plug                        
30 the legacy wells properly and reclaim the legacy well sites.                                                            
31      COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                              

01 the United States; the Honorable Ken Salazar, United States Secretary of the Interior; the                              
02 Honorable Robert V. Abbey, Director, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of                                
03 Land Management; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S.                                   
04 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
05 delegation in Congress.