....It's The Government's Own BLM!
People have been warning us for years that drilling for oil in the Alaskan arctic would lead to big environmental trouble. Itâs not that the technology hasnât advanced to the point where it can be done safely, but those nasty people in charge of the projects just donât care about the environment. These Mother Earth Hating Monsters would clearly let the whole thing go to H. E. double toothpicks and ruin the pristine beauty of the wilderness. Well, I guess they turned out to be right.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has agreed to plug at least one additional abandoned well in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska provided it receives the money to do so.
However, the issue of how or whether to address other so-called legacy well sites in the region remains under discussion between the agency and Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, or AOGCC.
Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a resolution urging BLM to properly plug and reclaim the well sites as soon as possible, saying they pose âsignificant risk to surface vegetation, groundwater, fish, land mammals and sea mammals.â
Well, that certainly sounds like bad news. I wonder who was responsible for this mess? BP? Chevron? But wait⦠if you read back to the first paragraph of that article, it almost sounds as if the US BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is in charge here. How could that be? An whatâs a âlegacy well?â
BLM manages the abandoned wells, drilled under the governmentâs direction as part of an exploratory program between 1944 and 1981.
The resolution also states that wood and metal debris and deteriorating buildings at the well sites âlitter the landscape and detract from the natural beauty of the Arctic region.â
Keep in mind that all of this is happening as President Obama just finished lecturing the country on climate change, and Ken Salazar exits stage left with no action taken on this issue. The BLM is responsible for the abandoned wells and only 16 of the original 140 have been plugged and reclaimed (7 by Alaskan Native groups, not the BLM). The state of Alaskaâs Oil and Gas Conservation Commission been asking BLM officials to clean up the mess this is creating.
Of course, the BLM is crying poverty, but as far back as last Summer, even Lisa Murkowski wasnât buying it.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski called the U.S. Bureau of Land Managementâs approach to addressing abandoned wells in the Alaska Arctic an âembarrassmentâ to the federal government.
Her comments on July 12 came during a Senate hearing she requested in Washington, D.C., focused on the cleanup of so-called legacy wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Murkowski, R-Alaska, said itâs the âheight of hypocrisyâ that the federal government doesnât live up to the same standards that it holds private industry to in plugging and reclaiming well sites.
You can read more about the various toxic sites in Alaska here, and youâll find the BLMâs fingerprints over more than a few pages. But in the eyes of the current administration, itâs far more important to place the blame on the private oil industry, jack up their taxes, and drive up the price of their products so you wonât mind paying extra for algae powered lights. Iâll give these folks credit for one thing⦠theyâre nothing if not consistent.
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/02/02/guess-which-giant-special-interest-is-really-polluting-alaska/
People have been warning us for years that drilling for oil in the Alaskan arctic would lead to big environmental trouble. Itâs not that the technology hasnât advanced to the point where it can be done safely, but those nasty people in charge of the projects just donât care about the environment. These Mother Earth Hating Monsters would clearly let the whole thing go to H. E. double toothpicks and ruin the pristine beauty of the wilderness. Well, I guess they turned out to be right.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has agreed to plug at least one additional abandoned well in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska provided it receives the money to do so.
However, the issue of how or whether to address other so-called legacy well sites in the region remains under discussion between the agency and Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, or AOGCC.
Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a resolution urging BLM to properly plug and reclaim the well sites as soon as possible, saying they pose âsignificant risk to surface vegetation, groundwater, fish, land mammals and sea mammals.â
Well, that certainly sounds like bad news. I wonder who was responsible for this mess? BP? Chevron? But wait⦠if you read back to the first paragraph of that article, it almost sounds as if the US BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is in charge here. How could that be? An whatâs a âlegacy well?â
BLM manages the abandoned wells, drilled under the governmentâs direction as part of an exploratory program between 1944 and 1981.
The resolution also states that wood and metal debris and deteriorating buildings at the well sites âlitter the landscape and detract from the natural beauty of the Arctic region.â
Keep in mind that all of this is happening as President Obama just finished lecturing the country on climate change, and Ken Salazar exits stage left with no action taken on this issue. The BLM is responsible for the abandoned wells and only 16 of the original 140 have been plugged and reclaimed (7 by Alaskan Native groups, not the BLM). The state of Alaskaâs Oil and Gas Conservation Commission been asking BLM officials to clean up the mess this is creating.
Of course, the BLM is crying poverty, but as far back as last Summer, even Lisa Murkowski wasnât buying it.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski called the U.S. Bureau of Land Managementâs approach to addressing abandoned wells in the Alaska Arctic an âembarrassmentâ to the federal government.
Her comments on July 12 came during a Senate hearing she requested in Washington, D.C., focused on the cleanup of so-called legacy wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Murkowski, R-Alaska, said itâs the âheight of hypocrisyâ that the federal government doesnât live up to the same standards that it holds private industry to in plugging and reclaiming well sites.
You can read more about the various toxic sites in Alaska here, and youâll find the BLMâs fingerprints over more than a few pages. But in the eyes of the current administration, itâs far more important to place the blame on the private oil industry, jack up their taxes, and drive up the price of their products so you wonât mind paying extra for algae powered lights. Iâll give these folks credit for one thing⦠theyâre nothing if not consistent.
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/02/02/guess-which-giant-special-interest-is-really-polluting-alaska/
