Legislature(1999 - 2000)
03/31/1999 03:12 PM Senate RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE RESOURCES COMMITTEE
March 31, 1999
3:12 P.M.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Rick Halford, Chairman
Senator Pete Kelly
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Sean Parnell
Senator Georgianna Lincoln
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Robin Taylor, Vice Chairman
Senator Jerry Mackie
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 7
Supporting the responsible development of the Tulsequah Chief Mine
through the cooperative effort of Alaska and British Columbia and
urging Governor Knowles to withdraw his request for a referral of
the Tulsequah Chief Mine to the International Joint Commission
under the Boundary Waters Treaty.
-MOVED CSSCR 7(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 13(FIN)
Relating to using oil spill settlement funds to create a long-term
research and monitoring endowment.
-MOVED CSHJR 13(FIN)OUT OF COMMITTEE
CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 11(O&G)
Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation to open the
coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, to
oil and gas exploration, development, and production.
-MOVED SCSHJR 11(RES)OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS SENATE COMMITTEE ACTION
SCR 7 - See Resources Committee minutes dated 3/26/99.
HJR 11- No previous Senate action.
HJR 13 - No previous Senate action.
WITNESS REGISTER
Mr. Williams
Atlin, British Columbia
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SCR 7.
Mr. Bob Marmichael
Atlin, British Columbia
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported SCR 7.
Senator Drue Pearce
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99811-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor of SCR 7.
Mr. Mike Conway, Director
Division of Air and Water Quality
Department of Environmental Conservation
410 Willoughby Ave., Ste 105
Juneau, AK 99801-1795
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SCR 7.
Mr. Ken Taylor, Director
Division of Habitat
P.O. Box 25526
Juneau, AK 99802-5526
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SCR 7.
Ms. Wilda Rodman, Staff
Representative Therriault
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99811-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HJR 13 for Representative
Therriault.
Ms. Molly McCammon
Exxon Valdez Trust Council
645 G Street, Ste. 401
Anchorage, AK 99501
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HJR 13.
Ms. Wendy Redman
University of Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported HJR 13.
Ms. Judy Jordan, Aide
Senator Gail Phillips
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99811-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HJR 11.
Representative Gail Phillips
State Capitol Bldg.
Juneau, AK 99811-1182
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on HJR 11 for Representative
Phillips.
Ms. Julie Raymond Yakoubian
P.O. Box 84666
Fairbanks, AK 99708
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed HJR 11.
Mr. Brenden Raymond Yakoubian
P.O. Box 84666
Fairbanks, AK 99708
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed HJR 11.
Mr. Willy Dunne
P.O. Box 15043
Fritz Creek, AK 99603
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed HJR 11.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 99-20, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN HALFORD called the Senate Resources Committee meeting to
order at 3:12 p.m. Present were Senators Green, Pete Kelly,
Parnell, and Halford, Chair. Senator Pearce, sponsor of SCR 7, was
also present. CHAIRMAN HALFORD announced several people would be
participating via teleconference from Atlin, British Columbia.
SCR 7-TULSEQUAH CHIEF MINE
MR. WILLIAMS, testifying from Atlin, stated he believes the
Tulsequah Chief Mine project will benefit the communities from
Whitehorse to Skagway. He stated he represents about 40 people who
support the project.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD noted the committee received a petition signed by
a number of people who support the project, and the petition has
been entered into the record.
MR. BOB CARMICHAEL, a local contractor and former road
superintendent, testified from Atlin in support of the Tulsequah
Chief Mine project as it will provide year-round employment for
local people and allow them to stay in the community.
SENATOR PEARCE informed committee members she sent a memo to both
Commissioners Rue and Brown asking them to describe their
continuing concerns about the project related to the response
received from the British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands
and Parks(BCMELP) in November about the Alaska Department of
Environmental Conservation's (ADEC) and the Alaska Department of
Fish and Game's (ADFG) environmental concerns. She noted neither
department responded to the BCMELP response. She asked both
Commissioners to bring the concerns that they do not believe can be
resolved directly with the BCMELP to the Alaska Legislature. She
explained her ongoing concern is that Alaska should not try to
impose its permitting process on to another government and she
believes the Administration has taken a position that will
ultimately disable the project from moving forward.
MR. MICHAEL CONWAY, Director of Statewide Public Service Division
of DEC, stated he is involved in the coordination of permitting and
overview of the Tulsequah Chief Mine. He stated one outcome of the
government to government interaction that has benefitted both sides
has been the ability to continue a dialog about the standards. The
Canadians have reviewed Alaska's water quality standards and find
their own to be comparable. ADEC and ADFG have told the BCMELP
they are not interested in permitting the project but they want
assurances that the resources at risk are protected. BCMELP has
worked directly with Alaska permitting staff to exchange
information.
SENATOR PEARCE asked Mr. Conway to address ADEC's concerns in the
order contained in the response from BCMELP. She pointed out it is
her understanding that the response from BCMELP addressed each
concern raised by the federal government and ADEC and ADFG.
MR. CONWAY said ADEC and ADFG are in agreement with the points made
in that response. He discussed the Summary of Technical Responses
on page 3 as follows. The first issue is about the tailings
impoundment. The USEPA is handling the tailings impoundment issue
and continuing government to government negotiations between the
Canadian government and Region X of EPA are ongoing.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked if EPA Region X requested mediation. MR.
CONWAY replied that he believes the request made was a consolidated
effort by state and federal agencies.
SENATOR 236
SENATOR PEARCE stated her concern is that it is unnecessary to use
channels in Washington, D.C., and that Alaska officials can pick up
the phone and call the Canadian officials. She asked Mr. Conway
why the Administration is pushing state department intervention
when he just said ADEC does not have any specific disagreements
with the Canadian government's response. She emphasized there is
no point in escalating problems with British Columbia
unnecessarily, and that anytime the U.S. government and Ottawa get
involved the issue gets more confusing and less is accomplished.
MR. CONWAY replied ADEC is speaking directly with BC government
officials so a direct process is ongoing.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked Mr. Conway to continue discussing ADEC's
specific concerns.
MR. CONWAY stated monitoring long term enforcement has not been an
issue with ADEC and the Migratory Bird Act issue is either an ADFG
or US Fish and Wildlife concern, not ADEC's.
MR. CONWAY referred to page 8 of the BC government's response to
the development of design specifications covering mixing zones.
BCMELP has reviewed the Alaska mixing zone regulation and
agrees with the proposed remedy as it relates to the
decision on the waste management act permit.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD affirmed ADEC and the BC government are in
agreement on that issue. MR. CONWAY said that is correct.
MR. CONWAY stated ADEC and the BC government also agree on number
2(b) of the response, entitled "Chronic Mine Effluent Toxicity,"
which reads:
Canada and BC agree with the three items identified in
the remedy as it relates to the issuance of the waste
management act permit and the approach to be undertaken
is summarized below.
MR. CONWAY referred to 2(c) on page 9, entitled, "Turbidity and
Sedimentation," and read the following:
BCMELP agrees with the two items identified in the remedy
and the approach to the undertaking as summarized below.
He said there is no disagreement here, nor with 2(d).
MR. CONWAY summarized that, in essence, the Canadians have agreed
to work with us to get information. The remaining issues we have
pertain to getting the opportunity to review the actual
information. They have agreed on the approach by working with us
several times a week on exchanging information. There are about a
dozen items the Division still needs to get information on even
though DEC is busy permitting Alaska projects.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked if DEC felt the IJC was necessary.
MR. CONWAY answered that he didn't know since good progress is
being made. But prior to the Governor requesting the referral, we
were being left out of the discussion.
He noted that the way Canada permits their projects, they do a
different level of prepermitting and getting the permit out. Once
the project starts, they go back and make changes and redesign the
project. They have a lot of monitoring and oversight enforcement.
Number 342
SENATOR PEARCE said she thought they used the same process to
develop other mines in our joint watersheds in Southeast. She
asked Mr. Conway if there was anything he had asked for that they
had flat out said "No" to.
MR. CONWAY answered no.
SENATOR LINCOLN asked if there are major concerns on his list that
feels won't be addressed.
MR. CONWAY explained that most of the tasks on his list will take
months to accumulate the information. Some of them require three
or four months like the risk assessment which requires looking at
the representative samples of the effluent. We also need mixing
zone calculations which they call dilution. We haven't asked them
to adopt Alaska's water quality standards, but have asked for
something comparable. They are responding with what they say is an
equivalent. Base line data is needed and spring is the best time
to do that. Toxicity testing needs to be done for both acute and
chronic toxicity. We haven't seen the data Mr. Ringstad referred
to showing that the trout all survived after 36 hours (LC50 test).
SENATOR LINCOLN asked if there was anything to keep the Canadian
group from continuing their project and are we slowing it up with
our list.
MR. CONWAY said he didn't believe we were slowing them up. This
project requires follow-through as with any U.S. mine. After four
years of work, a U.S. mine is about ready to go; whereas the
Canadian project is behind because their process is a bit
different.
SENATOR PEARCE clarified that no one alleged that the permitting
process was stopping the project, but that going to the IJC would
likely take two years which would slow down the mine.
SENATOR LINCOLN wanted to make sure that the things they are
requesting do not hold up the project.
Number 420
MR. KEN TAYLOR, Director, Division of Habitat, said his concerns
are primarily related to salmon and salmon habitat. The Taku is a
producer of all five species of salmon in the Pacific and is the
largest producer in Southeast, producing as much as 2 million
salmon annually. About 400,000 are cohos, 300,000 are sockeyes,
100,000 king salmon, 1 million pinks, and about 50,000 chums. This
river's production compares very evenly with the Copper River, the
Susitna, and the Yukon Rivers. They would be asking the same
questions and seeking the same assurances if a project were
proposed in any of the other large rivers.
The economic value of the Taku salmon resource is really large.
The commercial gillnet fishery is worth about $2.8 million to about
100 permit holders and the commercial troll harvest of coho for 460
permit holders is worth about $1 million with an average catch of
about 58,000 cohos. These don't include the value of the salmon to
the seafood processors in local communities.
Sport angling on the Taku is also extremely important, contributing
about $6.4 million in direct spending to the Juneau economy. In
high years, as many as 10,000 kings are taken - about 40 percent of
which are from the Taku; about 50,000 cohos - about 40 percent from
Taku; and about 32,000 anglers receive benefits from this system.
In the US/Canada Salmon Treaty process, both countries have
committed to special enhancement and conservation measures for
trans boundary stocks that include the Taku River sockeyes. The
State's special concern for Taku River salmon is consistent with
our position in other treaty negotiations.
MR. TAYLOR said our major concerns now are with the 75 miles of
road that would access the mine site and the many river crossings.
If they are not designed, constructed, and maintained properly, we
are going to lose spawning habitat. We have very limited field
studies documenting sockeye spawning adjacent to and immediately
down stream of the mine site; this applies to juvenile coho,
sockeye, and king salmon just downstream of the mine, as well.
Most extensive thorough surveys are expected to document additional
salmon spawning and rearing areas at stream crossings and in areas
potentially affected by the effluent. The proposed tailings
disposal site is on an active alluvial fan and adequate base line
data and detailed engineering are not yet available to assure the
State there will not be water quality problems.
MR. TAYLOR said he thought it was reasonable that critically
important concerns be resolved prior to permitting, but the
Canadians have a different process. We are not asking them to
adopt our process, but we do want to be involved in the critical
decisions that should be made before the overall decision is made.
The toxicity of mixing zones to fish is still unknown for several
reasons and this is being worked on with DEC. The Tulsequah ore
body is very similar to that of the Britannia Mine which has
destroyed the salmon run in Britannia Creek and further impacted
Howe Sound. Contingency plans for emergency closure of the mine
and the level of government inspections and enforcement capability
is one of the things we think should be finalized as part of the
mine approval process, not something that should happen afterwards,
he said.
Our involvement in the Canadian review process has been
constructive and we have been making progress. We still have
numerous concerns regarding fish habitat protection. Many of these
concerns have been protected in the response we got from Canada.
The response is still fairly vague because there are a lot of
unknowns. Our Canadian technical counterparts have agreed our
resource concerns are legitimate ones.
In discussions with Canada, MR. TAYLOR said, we have begun to agree
on reasonably mine development standards, but so far it's informal
and voluntary and relies on Canada's continued invitation to us to
participate.
In summary, Alaska has enormous economic interest in this watershed
and we're proud of the fact that our salmon stocks are healthy
including those in the Taku River and we want to keep them that
way. Quite frankly, we look south across the border and are less
than impressed with British Columbia's commitment to healthy and
productive salmon fisheries. The bottom line is when we look at
the cost and benefits of the Tulsequah Chief mine, it appears that
the costs are all on our side of the border and the benefits are on
the Canadian side, but we have never said no to the mine and we are
looking to get answers to serious questions. We are asking to have
a specified meeting for a role in the permit process. Because the
mine is in a different country, we have had to use different tools
to protect our vitally important salmon resources.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked if there was any point at which the
Department expects to have access to an evaluation on-site of raw
data and information and actually look at potential stream
crossings.
MR. TAYLOR answered that he wasn't sure when that point would be,
but when they get to the point of design, he hoped we would be
involved since we have quite a bit of expertise in the Division on
design and construction to mitigate or prevent damage to spawning
habitats. He understands there are nine major stream crossing and
probably as many as 200 culverts that will be necessary in this
system. If they are not designed properly, they will cut off a lot
of spawning habitat.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD commented that it will take a lot of finesse not
to look like a direct attack on the sovereignty of the country.
MR. TAYLOR agreed and said they don't have any direct funding to do
these kinds of things. We are working in cooperation with
California, Washington, and Oregon on culvert designs that will
benefit the spawning salmon. This is the cutting edge of
construction design that will benefit everybody. If the Canadians
are not interested now, they will be soon.
SENATOR PEARCE asked if there are specific questions the Canadian
government haven't addressed.
MR. TAYLOR answered one of the problems we are having is in the
mixing zone design. We are dealing with a river that changes
channels quite a bit. The mixing zone requires a certain amount of
water to accomplish the detoxifying of the effluent. We don't
know, at this point, what will happen if the river changes channels
and they have their mixing somewhere else. These types of
questions need to still be addressed.
SENATOR PEARCE asked if we are requiring cleaner effluent than the
intake water like we do in our own state.
MR. CONWAY answered that we are not requiring anything, but we are
asking for the data they have on it. If it got to a situation
where we had some concerns about that level of effluent, we would
have a technical discussion about it to see if we could solve that
dispute. We haven't gotten to that point, yet. We would not
require them to have a higher standard than we have in Alaska.
We have agreement on them doing mixing zone calculations and
getting that information. We haven't seen the data.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked who's in charge of mixing zones.
MR. CONWAY answered that Division of Water Quality.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked if he would be in charge of the migration of
the mixing zone with the migration of the mixing stream.
MR. CONWAY said that is correct; they would do modeling of it and
set up a sampling plan that would show how it's moving according to
that model. The Alaskans and Canadians have agreed to this, but in
authorizing a mixing zone, there are a number of things people need
to show. He also regularly consults with ADF&G to make sure they
are comfortable that the habitat and biota are protected.
Number 570
SENATOR PEARCE moved to adopt a conceptual amendment adding the
name of the member of the BC Assembly from the Taku area to the
list of people this resolution will be sent to. There were no
objections and it was adopted.
SENATOR PARNELL moved to pass CSSCR 7(RES) with individual
recommendations. There were no objections and it was so ordered.
TAPE 99-20, SIDE B
Number 590
HJR 13-UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT FOR RESEARCH
CHAIRMAN HALFORD announced HJR 13 to be up for consideration.
MS. WILDA RODMAN, Staff to Representative Therriault, said HJR 13
supports the recent action of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Trustees(EVOS) to create a long term research and monitoring
endowment using $115 million of the expected reserve. The
resolution also encourages the Trustee Council to endow chairs in
the Sciences at the University of Alaska and supports trustee
efforts to work with the congressional delegation to obtain
authority to increase the earnings on remaining settlement funds.
Over the years, EVOS' funds have been used largely used to purchase
lands for habitat preservation, but has been lacking in the area of
research. This has left a critical gap in our understanding of
this spill and how to respond in the future. An endowment would
fulfill the intent of the Exxon Valdez oil settlement, a mission of
the Trustee Council.
MS. MOLLY MCCAMMON, Executive Director, EVOS, supported HJR 13 as
it ties in very well with the long term plans of the Trustee
Council to use the majority of the remaining funds for a long term
research foundation.
Number 562
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked what the status was on negotiations on the
Karluk and Sturgeon Rivers.
MS. MCCAMMON answered that negotiations are ongoing and we don't
have a deal with Koniag Corporation, yet. She hoped to reach a
conclusion by some time this summer.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked what value range she was talking about.
MS. MCCAMMON said that it would not take a substantial portion of
these funds to get a deal with Koniag. They have a disagreement on
the value of long term protection of the Karluk and Sturgeon
Rivers. The last offer of $24 million was rejected by Koniag.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked if that were not successful and there was
$170 million remaining, would there still be only $115 million
transferred to the foundation.
MS. MCCAMMON answered that the Council committed that by 2002 an
additional $55 million would be committed to habitat protection.
That would include Koniag and any additional small parcels. The
remainder of the funds would go into a long term fund for research
and monitoring. They anticipate that amount being $115 million.
MS. WENDY REDMAN, Vice President, University of Alaska Statewide
System, supported HJR 13. The Board of Regents along with the
Public Advisory Committee have long been advocates of setting aside
a research endowment from the very beginning. She encouraged the
Trustees to use a portion of the research reserves to set up some
additional endowments for some chairs at the University. A lot of
work needs to be done with the results that have been generated
through the money that has been expended so far - a lot of
information on spill technology, restoration methods, ecosystem
prevention. This provides them with an opportunity to endow a
chair in perpetuity which takes about $2 million.
SENATOR GREEN asked what was the impact on the University when a
chair is endowed.
MS. REDMAN explained that endowments are held by the University of
Alaska which is a separate private corporation. They do all the
investment and provide the University with the earnings of the fund
for use. It shows up in the University budget as University
receipts.
SENATOR KELLY moved to pass SJR 13 from committee with accompanying
fiscal notes with individual recommendations. There were no
objections and it was so ordered.
HJR 11-ENDORSING ANWR LEASING
CHAIRMAN HALFORD announced HJR 11 to be up for consideration.
MS. JUDY JORDAN, Aide for Representative Gail Phillips, noted that
her sponsor statement was in their packets. Similar legislation
has passed in previous legislatures and Representative Phillips
wanted to reaffirm this legislature's support and give the
opportunity to new legislators to express their support for it.
She was concerned, also, that new members of congress understand
that Alaska is strongly behind opening of ANWR.
MS. JULIE RAYMOND YAKOUBIAN, Fairbanks resident, opposed HJR 11.
The coastal plain is important to protect. It has a few hundred
species of birds and has musk oxen, polar bears, and the Porcupine
caribou herd. The coastal plain is important culturally for the
people who depend on the Porcupine caribou herd.
MR. BRENDEN RAYMOND YAKOUBIAN opposed HJR 11. He wanted them to
keep three words in mind when thinking about oil development in the
Alaska Arctic. The first is economy. It makes little sense to
drill oil because it subjects us to the boom and bust cycle of the
oil market. The second "e" is ecology. Scientists the world over
have proved time again how crucial the Arctic's physical
environment is to the rest of the planet. The third "e" is
ethnocentrism. Largely euro-American legislative bodies have
ignored the situation of its cognitive first peoples. This is
illogical and immoral.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked him if he had ever visited the ANWR.
MR. YAKOUBIAN said he and Julie hadn't been beyond the Brooks
Range. They have been to Cold Foot and have read extensive
literature by people who have been in the operating areas for
various reasons.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD said his statements are unfortunate and unfair
especially since he had never been to the areas. The description
of garbage all over the place is not true.
MR. YAKOUBIAN responded that Kuparuk was a lot different than
Prudhoe Bay.
MR. WILLY DUNNE, Homer resident, opposed HJR 11. He disagreed that
development of the ANWR oil fields would help offset our declining
oil revenues. ANWR is federal property and we would not get much
in the way of royalties from it. ANWR is no more owned by Alaskans
than the Statue of Liberty is owned by the state of New York. It
is a national treasure. At one point Senator Murkowski commented
that ANWR should be called the Arctic Refuge, because it is a
wildlife refuge.
SENATOR LINCOLN proposed amending HJR 11 to add a phrase that may
have been accidentally left out: "WHEREAS the state will ensure the
continued health and productivity of the Porcupine caribou herd and
the protection of land, water, and wildlife resources during the
exploration of development of the coastal plain of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge and..."
Number 310
CHAIRMAN HALFORD announced it would go on page 2, line 31. There
were no objections and the amendment carried.
REPRESENTATIVE PHILLIPS directed their attention to a technical
amendment on page 2, line 4 noting the word "imported" should be
"imports".
SENATOR PEARCE said that she had a letter from the Mayor of the
North Slope Borough that was written to President Clinton regarding
Secretary of Interior Babbitt's support of the proposed wilderness
designation for ANWR that she wanted entered into the record. The
point is that the people who live in the coastal plain and across
the North Slope for thousands of years would prove that the Arctic
is not an untouched wilderness never visited by man. People have
called it home as long as the caribou have calved. They believe
they best know how to work with the federal and state agencies on
how to protect the coastal plain.
An erroneous inference made, SENATOR PEARCE said, by a gentleman
from Fairbanks that Alyeska was somehow hiding something by all the
security they have at Pump Station 1 and along the pipeline. She
explained that security is required by the U.S. Department of
Transportation who has the oversight authority through the right-
of-way permit for the pipeline and Alyeska would just as soon not
pay for all their security which is primarily to insure there are
no terrorist attacks.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked because we have legislation pending making
this area wilderness, would it be wise to not only state we would
like to see the coastal plain of ANWR open for exploration, but
also that we oppose the designation of the coastal plain portion of
ANWR as wilderness.
REPRESENTATIVE PHILLIPS responded that would be a perfectly logical
amendment to put in. She would be glad to work up another
resolution.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD said they could add another "Further Resolved".
He announced an at ease from 3:35 to 3:40 p.m.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD announced there was a proposed amendment on page
3, line 7 after the request for opening to insert "and that the
Alaska State Legislature is adamantly opposed to further wilderness
or other restrictive federal designations in the area of the
coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."
SENATOR PARNELL moved the amendment.
SENATOR LINCOLN objected because the Arctic village of Venetie in
her district depends heavily on the Porcupine caribou herd and she
thought they would be in opposition to the designation of
wilderness.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD asked if she meant they support the designation of
wilderness.
SENATOR LINCOLN said yes.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD said he respected that position and said she could
check that with them before it comes to the floor for a vote. He
asked for those in favor of the amendment to raise their hands.
SENATORS PARNELL, GREEN, PETE KELLY, and HALFORD voted yes; SENATOR
LINCOLN voted no and the amendment carried.
SENATOR LINCOLN said she wasn't speaking on behalf of the Tanana
Chief's Conference, but she did have a conversation in which they
expressed their opposition to the resolution, but hadn't yet
testified or written a letter to that effect. She added that she
truly believed that Arctic Village and Venetie utilize the
Porcupine caribou herd in every aspect of their lives. There is no
question in her mind that the folks would die without that herd.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD responded that he believed development on the
coastal plain would not in any way harm that herd, but he
understands their concern. History of oil development has proven
that herds have not been significantly damaged, particularly when
the proposed development is a smaller footprint than Washington
National Airport. There is also a substantial opinion that
development can occur with no negative impact on that herd and on
calving in that area.
SENATOR PARNELL moved to pass SCSHJR 11(RES) from committee with
individual recommendations. There were no objections and it was so
ordered.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD adjourned the meeting at 4:55 p.m.
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