Enrolled HJR 6: Relating to legacy wells and legacy well sites; urging the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to open new areas of the National Petroleum Reserve -Alaska for environmentally responsible oil and gas development; and requesting the Office of the Governor to increase nationwide awareness about legacy wells and well sites.
00Enrolled HJR 6 01 Relating to legacy wells and legacy well sites; urging the United States Department of the 02 Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to open new areas of the National Petroleum Reserve - 03 Alaska for environmentally responsible oil and gas development; and requesting the Office of 04 the Governor to 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 by the United States Bureau of Land Management as 12 legacy wells; and 13 WHEREAS the United States Bureau of Land Management inappropriately calls the 14 abandoned drill sites "legacy wells," a term that does not adequately connote the disastrous
01 legacy of negligence and the environmental damage inflicted by the wells on the Arctic 02 landscape, and the term "travesty wells" better describes the nature of the abandoned wells; 03 and 04 WHEREAS only 17 of the travesty wells have been properly plugged and reclaimed; 05 and 06 WHEREAS 10 of the travesty wells were determined by the Alaska Oil and Gas 07 Conservation Commission to be of no concern because they were drilled to less than 50 feet 08 in depth, were drilled solely for soil stability data, did not encounter hydrocarbons, were never 09 cased, and have healed and revegetated; and 10 WHEREAS the remaining travesty wells are out of compliance with the regulations 11 adopted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission; and 12 WHEREAS at least 10 of the travesty wells out of compliance with the regulations 13 adopted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission currently leak hydrocarbons, 14 have leaked hydrocarbons in the past, or have a high potential to leak hydrocarbons in the 15 future; and 16 WHEREAS three of the travesty wells can no longer be found; and 17 WHEREAS the changing geography of the Arctic puts additional travesty wells at 18 risk of being lost before remediation can occur; and 19 WHEREAS the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has repeatedly 20 reminded the federal government of the obligation to plug travesty wells properly and to 21 reclaim travesty well sites; and 22 WHEREAS the travesty wells that have not been properly plugged and reclaimed 23 pose a significant risk to surface vegetation, groundwater, fish, land mammals, and sea 24 mammals; and 25 WHEREAS wood and metal debris and deteriorating buildings at the sites of the 26 travesty wells litter the landscape and detract from the natural beauty of the Arctic region; and 27 WHEREAS the federal government has received $9,480,946,486 from lease sales in 28 the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska and the outer continental shelf of the state and 29 should use a portion of those funds to plug and reclaim travesty wells in the state; and 30 WHEREAS the state cannot impose fines on the federal government for violating the 31 regulations of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but if it could do so, the
01 fines would exceed $8,000,000,000; if the statute of limitations were disregarded, the fines 02 would exceed $40,000,000,000; and 03 WHEREAS both state and federal regulations require the plugging and reclamation of 04 travesty wells, and the federal government would not allow a private entity to remain in 05 violation of those regulations; and 06 WHEREAS the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska was created in 1923 specifically 07 for oil and gas leasing, exploration, and production; and 08 WHEREAS the United States Congress mandated a program of oil and gas leasing 09 within the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska in 1980, opening the petroleum reserve to 10 future development; and 11 WHEREAS future oil and gas production from the National Petroleum Reserve - 12 Alaska could boost throughput in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and create new jobs and 13 revenue for the state and the federal government; 14 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature wishes to replace the term 15 "legacy wells" with the term "travesty wells" so that all people will understand the long 16 history of negligence and hypocrisy on the part of the federal government, especially the 17 United States Bureau of Land Management, for failing to live up to its mission statement by 18 properly plugging and remediating the well sites; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 20 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to plug travesty wells properly and 21 to reclaim the travesty well sites as soon as possible in order to protect the environment in the 22 Arctic region; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 24 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to work collaboratively with the 25 Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and other entities in the state to plug travesty 26 wells and reclaim travesty well sites; and be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 28 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to comply with state regulations and 29 to use best practices when plugging travesty wells and reclaiming travesty well sites; and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 31 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to consider turning over the
01 responsibility for plugging travesty wells and reclaiming travesty well sites to an entity, 02 preferably an entity that hires residents with Arctic expertise, that could expertly perform the 03 work in compliance with federal and state regulations with greater cost-effectiveness; and be 04 it 05 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 06 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to take more action to plug travesty 07 wells and reclaim travesty well sites safely so that the Arctic environment suffers no further 08 harm; and be it 09 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 10 Office of the Governor to disseminate information through appropriate national news outlets 11 and by other available means to increase awareness nationwide of the dangerous conditions of 12 the travesty wells and travesty well sites in the state and the federal government's failure to 13 plug the travesty wells properly and reclaim the travesty well sites; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 15 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to open new areas of the National 16 Petroleum Reserve Alaska for environmentally responsible oil and gas development that will 17 increase throughput in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and ensure the state plays an even 18 larger role in making our country energy independent. 19 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 20 the United States; the Honorable Sally Jewell, United States Secretary of the Interior; Neil 21 Kornze, Principal Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management, United States Department 22 of the Interior; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. 23 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 24 delegation in Congress.