00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 29                                                                     
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.                                                                  
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05       WHEREAS the United States Navy and the United States Geological Survey drilled                                  
06 approximately 137 wells on federal land in northern Alaska between 1944 and 1981, all of                                
07 which are now abandoned; and                                                                                            
08       WHEREAS the United States Bureau of Land Management is the current operator of                                  
09 the abandoned wells, now referred to as legacy wells; and                                                               
10       WHEREAS only seven of the legacy wells have been properly plugged and                                           
11 reclaimed; and                                                                                                          
12       WHEREAS the remaining legacy wells are out of compliance with the regulations                                   
13 adopted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and 42 of the remaining legacy                               
14 wells are flagrantly out of compliance; and                                                                             
15       WHEREAS three of the legacy wells can no longer be found; and                                                   

01       WHEREAS the changing geography of the Arctic puts additional legacy wells at risk                               
02 of being lost before remediation can occur; and                                                                         
03       WHEREAS the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has repeatedly                                           
04 reminded the federal government of the obligation to plug legacy wells properly and to                                  
05 reclaim legacy well sites; and                                                                                          
06       WHEREAS the legacy wells that have not been properly plugged and reclaimed pose                                 
07 a significant risk to surface vegetation, groundwater, fish, land mammals, and sea mammals;                             
08 and                                                                                                                     
09       WHEREAS wood and metal debris and deteriorating buildings at the sites of the                                   
10 legacy wells litter the landscape and detract from the natural beauty of the Arctic region; and                         
11       WHEREAS the federal government has received $9,480,946,486 from lease sales in                                  
12 the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska and the outer continental shelf of the state and                                
13 should use a portion of those funds to plug and reclaim legacy wells in the state; and                                  
14       WHEREAS the state cannot impose fines on the federal government for violating the                               
15 regulations of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, but if it could do so, the                               
16 fines would exceed $8,000,000,000; if the statute of limitations were disregarded, the fines                            
17 would exceed $40,000,000,000; and                                                                                       
18       WHEREAS both state and federal regulations require the plugging and reclamation of                              
19 legacy wells, and the federal government would not allow a private entity to remain in                                  
20 violation of those regulations;                                                                                         
21       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
22 Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to plug legacy wells properly and to                             
23 reclaim the legacy well sites as soon as possible in order to protect the environment in the                            
24 Arctic region.                                                                                                        
25       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
26 the United States; the Honorable Ken Salazar, United States Secretary of the Interior; the                              
27 Honorable Robert V. Abbey, Director, United States Bureau of the Interior, Bureau of Land                               
28 Management; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S.                                        
29 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
30 delegation in Congress.