00 SENATE CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 29(RES) 01 Urging the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to 02 plug legacy wells properly and to reclaim the legacy well sites as soon as possible in 03 order to protect the environment in the Arctic region; and requesting the Office of the 04 Governor to increase nationwide awareness about legacy wells and well sites. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS the United States Navy and the United States Geological Survey drilled 07 approximately 137 wells on federal land in northern Alaska between 1944 and 1981, all of 08 which are now abandoned; and 09 WHEREAS the United States Bureau of Land Management is the current operator of 10 the abandoned wells, now referred to as legacy wells; and 11 WHEREAS only seven of the legacy wells have been properly plugged and 12 reclaimed; and 13 WHEREAS the remaining legacy wells are out of compliance with the regulations 14 adopted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and 42 of the remaining legacy 15 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 Bureau of the Interior, Bureau of Land 03 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.