The Trump administration gives conditional approval to Hilcorp Alaska's Liberty Project, a proposed offshore oil drilling facility in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea to be located about 20 miles east of Prudhoe Bay and about five miles off the coast.
Specifically, Hilcorp would construct a nine-acre artificial gravel where future oil and gas development and production would take place.
If the project goes according to plan, the oil drilling facility would be the first oil and gas production facility in federal waters off Alaska, said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. He added that the project is a follow through on President Donald Trump's vision of American Energy Dominance.
The Center for Biological Diversity, however, was displeased about the announcement. In a statement, it said an artificial drilling heightened the risk of oil spills which could threaten Arctic marine mammals living in the Beaufort Sea. Kristen Monsell, ocean legal director with the center, highlighted that an oil spill in the Arctic would be impossible to clean up due to the weather conditions in the area.
Indeed, Hilcorp was heavily criticized in 2017 when its underwater gas pipeline in Alaska's Cook Inlet leaked for four months because the sea has prevented the company from immediately repairing the damage.
The statement added that Hilcorp has been the most heavily fined oil company in Alaska. The fines involved state regulators saying that "disregard for regulatory compliance is endemic to Hilcorps' approach to its Alaska operations."
The Center for Biological Diversity further alleged that the Trump administration has been aggressively expanding oil leasing in the Arctic and other U.S. oceans that it has been reluctant to enforce offshore drilling safety regulations despite disasters like the Deepwater Horizon in 2010.
At present, there are already four other facilities in the area that are similar to the Liberty Project. These facilities are located in the Spy Island, Northstar Island, Endicott Island and Oooguruk Island.
In its announcement, the Interior Department stressed that the approval granted to Hilcorp Alaska is still subject to various conditions as outlined by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The evaluation process involved reviewing the safety and environmental impacts of the Liberty Project based on the most recent scientific research available.
The provisional approval includes restricted drilling into the hydrocarbon-bearing zone, BOEM said. Similar drilling should only be conducted during the season when there are solid ice formations. BOEM also requires Hilcorp to follow seasonal restrictions on any activities that may disturb whaling activities in the region. Finally, Hilcorp shall pass all required permits from other state and concerned federal agencies.
