ACTION ALERT
Support Greater Mooses Tooth 2 Project in NPR-A
Comment Deadline was May 17, 2018

See RDC's submitted comment letter here

Overview

As part of the Trump Administration’s approach to achieving American energy dominance, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released the Draft SupplementalEnvironmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the Alpine Satellite Development Plan (ASDP) for the proposed Greater Mooses Tooth 2 (GMT2) development project in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPR-A). ConocoPhillips Alaska submitted an application to move forward with the project in August 2015. The DSEIS analyzes the application to authorize the construction, operation, and maintenance of a drill site, access road, pipelines, and ancillary facilities to support development of petroleum resources at the GMT2 drill site. 

This DSEIS supplements an earlier analysis of the project in the BLM’s 2004 ASDP. Under the Preferred Alternative identified in the DSEIS, the associated pipeline and access road would cross both Kuukpik Corporation-owned lands and federally-managed lands within the NPR-A.  The infrastructure would also connect to the Greater Mooses Tooth 1 development, which is eight miles away. 

The DSEIS examines a range of alternatives for the GMT2 project and considers relevant and reasonable mitigation measures. ConocoPhillips Alaska estimates first oil in 2021. The $1.5 billion project could produce up to 30,000 barrels of oil per day. 

Additional information, as well as the draft plan, is available at the GMT2 Draft Supplemental EIS site:

https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=renderDefaultPlanOrProjectSite&projectId=65817

Action Requested

A 60-day public comment period on the DSEIS is now underway during which time public meetings will be held in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and North Slope communities. Please submit comments supporting Alternative A, the Preferred Alternativein the DSEIS. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:

Email:  [email protected]              Fax: (907) 271- 3933

Mail: GMT2 Draft SEIS Comments
Attn: Stephanie Rice
222 West 7th Avenue, #13
Anchorage, AK 99513

In person at the BLM Public Information Center, 222 West 7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska.
In person at public meetings:
Anchorage: Monday, April 16th, 5:30-9:00 p.m., Loussac Library, Learning Commons Room
Fairbanks: Tuesday, April 17th, 5:30-9:00 p.m., Morris Thompson Center

Points to Consider:

  • Peak production from GMT2 is estimated at approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day and would help increase North Slope production, putting more oil in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. 

  • Development of the proposed $1.5 billion project would provide benefits to the local and state economies through local hire for jobs created during construction and operations, tax revenues, royalties, and new resources to help meet domestic energy demand. 
  • The GMT2 Project would help meet the purpose of NPR-A, which is to develop America’s energy resources.

  • Development will also provide significant economic benefits to Alaska Natives on the North Slope as well as throughout the state through direct payment of royalties and revenue sharing among the Alaska Native Corporations.

  • The currently proposed GMT2 project (formerly CD7) is essentially the same as that approved for permitting in 2004 with changes that reduce the overall footprint.These changes include removing the drill site location from the Colville River Special Area, and reducing the road and pipeline length, thereby reducing the amount of fill and associated impacts to wetlands. Relocation of the drill site also mitigates the potential for impacts on peregrine falcons, an endangered species.
  • As proposed in Alternative A, GMT2 will include a gravel road connection to existing infrastructure at GMT1 facilities. The road is necessary to insure that the operator can respond to the unlikely event of an environmental or safety issue in an adequate and timely manner.

  • Alternative C, the aircraft and roadless alternative, would not allow adequate access to emergency response resources and creates significant environmental and safety risk in the unlikely event of an issue. On bad weather days, there would be no access to GMT2.

  • ConocoPhillips’ proposed project, Alternative A, has been modified to reduce environmental impacts and lower the overall footprint.Alternative A would be the best alternative that meets the purpose and need for the GMT2 project. Alternative A would also pose the fewest impacts to subsistence.

  • GMT2 incorporates extensive subsistence mitigation in the project design and incorporates local stakeholder input. 

  • Alternative A requires less air traffic close to the village of Nuiqsut than Alternative C. Road access will avoid the need for air traffic to the drill site, which is the number one complaint of subsistence hunters. 

  • Pipeline design standards and separation from the road were developed to ensure caribou movement is protected for subsistence hunting.

  • The project has incorporated pull-outs to support safety and local subsistence access on the GMT2 road.

  • A review of new data and information shows there are no appreciable changes in the physical, biological, or social resources associated with the project study area. New data includes multi-year studies on hydrology, birds, and caribou.

 Comment deadline was May 17, 2018