WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG???? Killing endangered animals and dumping oil waste from drilling back into the ocean.
“The company would be allowed to kill or seriously injure up to 14 whales and nine ice seals over five years while developing the $1 billion project………..Liberty Island would be the first offshore drilling development in federal Arctic waters. The plan calls for building a 9.3-acre gravel island about six miles offshore in 20 feet of federal waters in the Beaufort Sea…….The approval includes endangered bowhead whales and ringed seals……Eight to 10 wells would be drilled, with half for production and half for injecting drilling wastes. The island would be similar to four other drilling islands built in Alaskan waters.”
Hilcorp Alaska wins federal wildflife permits for Liberty Island
The approval came from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a 183-page report. Permits from the National Marine Fisheries Service will run from Dec. 1, 2021, to Nov. 30, 2026.
The company would be allowed to kill or seriously injure up to 14 whales and nine ice seals over five years while developing the $1 billion project. The approval includes endangered bowhead whales and ringed seals.
The permits also allow the project to harass and harm additional whales and seals with a specific number named per species.
Eco-groups have filed a lawsuit against the project and are awaiting a decision from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Liberty Island would be the first offshore drilling development in federal Arctic waters. The plan calls for building a 9.3-acre gravel island about six miles offshore in 20 feet of federal waters in the Beaufort Sea. It would take about two years to build the island.
The Liberty Project would be located about 15 miles east of Prudhoe Bay in Foggy Island Bay. It would house a self-contained drilling and production facility with a pipeline to shore. The oil would be sent via pipeline to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
Eight to 10 wells would be drilled, with half for production and half for injecting drilling wastes. The island would be similar to four other drilling islands built in Alaskan waters.
Houston-based, privately-held Hilcorp says the project would tap the largest undeveloped light-oil reservoir on the North Slope. It is projected to produce 80 million to 150 million barrels of recoverable oil – with peak production of 60,000 to 70,000 barrels per day. The field is expected to produce for 15 to 20 years, said Hilcorp and its partners.
Construction has been delayed by the lack of stable shoreline sea ice. Production could begin in 2022.