Murkowski, Sullivan press Interior Department not to extend review period for new environmental assessment and plan for Willow oil project

Alaska’s two U.S. senators are pressing the Department of the Interior to resist calls to extend a 45-day public review and comment period for the recently-released Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, or DSEIS, for ConocoPhillips’ big Willow oil project on the North Slope.

Opponents to development projects, in this case conservation groups, typically call on federal agencies to extend comment periods on environmental impact statements as a way of dragging out the process.

ConocoPhillips is concerned that extensios of the review period could delay approval of the revised environmental statement and a new plan for the project, jeopardizing hopes of starting construction this winter.

Willow is a $6 billion project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska that would, if built, add 180,000 barrels a day of new oil moving through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

Willow was to have been in construction in 2021 but was stopped by an Alaska federal judge after conservation groups filed lawsuits citing defects in the Interior Department’s review and approval of the big project in 2020.

Interior and ConocoPhillips worked on a revised plan for the project to address concerns raised in the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason, and a resulting in the revised draft supplemental EIS issued recently.

Alaska senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, both Republican, wrote to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to reiterate strong support of the project and to urge the Department to promptly approve it—with no extension of the current, 45-day public comment period.

In a letter sent to Secretary Haaland the Senators outlined how the Willow project has already gone through a rigorous and comprehensive review process, including multi-year environmental analyses led by BLM across multiple federal agencies, the State of Alaska, and affected communities on the North Slope.

The results of those reviews and analyses have shown that Willow will meet and exceed the strictest environmental standards, furthering the administration’s stated goals for U.S. energy security, energy prices, and social justice, the senators said.

“We therefore firmly believe that a 45-day comment period will allow all stakeholders and the general public more than enough time to review the SEIS and provide meaningful comment,” the senators said.

“Timely completion of this process is critical to the project’s ability to undertake any level of development activities during the rapidly-approaching 2022-2023 winter season,” Murkowski and Sullivan said.

The North Slope’s winter construction season is the shortest in the world due to strict environmental standards for ice and snow roads and temporary snow pads that which virtually eliminate any surface disturbance.

Maintaining the schedule for the review would also demonstrate the urgency required to address rising energy costs, the need for U.S. energy security, and the Biden administration’s stated goals for environmental justice initiatives.”

The Willow project has widespread support across Alaska, including from the Alaska Federation of Natives, Alaska Native Village Corporation Association, ANCSA Regional Association, the Alaska District Council of Laborers and additional labor groups, as well as the communities of Utqiagvik, Wainwright, and Atqasuk located on the North Slope.

“Alaska Natives are also especially supportive of this project, as it would contribute to their economic well-being and prosperity for years to come,” Murkowski and Sullivan said.

“Julie Kitka, President of the Alaska Federation of Natives, wrote to you in a letter that Willow ‘could jumpstart our economy with thousands of jobs and be a model in community and environmental stewardship for years to come,” the senator said.

Other Alaska Native leaders are voicing support.

In their letter, the senators said “Hallie Bissett and Kim Reitmeier, Executive Directors, respectively, of the Alaska Native Village Corporation Association and ANCSA Regional Association, have urged you (Secretary Haaland) not delay Willow ‘given the exhaustive and thorough review process it has already undergone, and the urgent need for vetted, economic opportunities for safe development in Alaska.”’

Among North Slope communities, “The cities of Utqiagvik, Wainwright, and Atqasuk have passed resolutions in support of oil and gas development projects, like Willow, within the NPR-A, and explicitly asked you ‘not to undercut us as a people and to honor the work’ they have done with your agencies throughout the development of Willow,” the letter said.”

The two senators restated the importance of the Department’s timely approval of the Willow project:

“Again, given BLM’s previous evaluations of Willow, a 45-day public comment period is a sufficient time frame for any interested party to wholly evaluate the SEIS,” Murkowski and Sullivan said.

“Willow has already faced multiple delays, and now again awaits approval at a pivotal moment. Given the current pace of inflation, high gas prices, and international geopolitics, we urge you to recognize the immense benefits this project will bring and act promptly to approve it,” Murkowski and Sullivan said.