A congressionally mandated study recently completed by the National Academies of Science, a politically independent nonprofit organization, explores the cumulative effects of three decades of oil development on the North Slope region of Alaska. Its verdict is mixed but largely negative. The commission that prepared the report found that development has led to better schools and community services for many residents. But traditional ways of living are being swept away, alcoholism and diabetes are on the rise, and irreversible, serious environmental damage has been done, and will continue.
These kinds of tradeoffs may seem fairly typical to anyone familiar with the history of resource extraction in the United States. Yet the extreme climate and remoteness of the North Slope alter the balance, limiting the benefits of economic development and slowing recovery from environmental damage. In addition, the large number of government agencies involved and the unclear nature of the law regarding cleanup of oil exploration sites make implementing a coherent policy to protect the region more difficult.
The North Slope of Alaska, a region about the size of Minnesota, contains some of America’s largest oil reserves and some of the nation’s largest wilderness areas, home to many endangered bird species as well as the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd, which the Gwich’in people have relied on for centuries. Parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are included. Offshore, bowhead whales’ migration patterns make the North Slope essential to traditional Inupiat subsistence living.
In 1968, massive oil reserves were found. Roads, exploratory wells, heavy machinery, and an 800-mile pipeline to take the crude oil out of the state have since changed the face of the North Slope. Since 1977, the North Slope has provided almost a fifth of U.S. oil production. The oilfields now contribute about 15% of national oil production yearly, and domestic sources of oil are considered even more critical in the context of a possible war with Iraq and an uncertain global economy. The North Slope also has massive natural gas reserves that have been largely untapped so far.
The committee found, however, that the North Slope has not followed the “boomtown” pattern of economic development typical of the 48 contiguous states. The report notes that “the isolation of rural communities on the North Slope, particularly because of their lack of connection to a highway network, meant they did not become staging areas for development. Instead, virtually independent infrastructures developed…[t]he people hired…were not local or permanent.” Although many residents are glad healthcare, education, and other services are improved, they have never benefited from the broad economic stimulus one would associate with oil exploration in a more temperate region like Texas.
Just as the remoteness of the North Slope has hindered economic benefits, the extreme climate makes the ecosystem slower to recover from damage. “Natural recovery in the Arctic is very slow, because of the cold; so the effects of abandoned structures and unrestored landscapes could persist for centuries and accumulate,” the report notes. The worst-hit areas of the North Slope are expected never to recover. Tundra eliminated by roads, containment pads, and increased human activity are some of the concerns. Larger amounts of garbage from the increased human population help increase the numbers of scavenging species, like foxes, ravens, and bears, which then eat the eggs or nestlings of endangered birds. The Porcupine caribou herd does not seem to have diminished significantly, but the report warned that the herd’s migration patterns and reproductive success have been affected. It is impossible to predict the effects of further development on the herd, the report noted, without knowing exactly which areas would be developed.
Of pressing concern as the North Slope oil reserves diminish is the fate of the network of roads that crisscrosses the region, drilling machinery, pre-fab housing, concrete pads, and other equipment. The difficulty of removing buildings, roads, and equipment when the oil companies leave, and the absence of explicit federal laws governing cleanup, will likely mean that the detritus of oil exploration will be left for centuries.
Increased alcoholism and a rise in diabetes among North Slope residents are of critical concern as well. In addition, the traditional subsistence lifestyles of two native groups, the Inupiat (Eskimos) and the Gwich’in, are in danger. The Inupiat rely on the bowhead whales whose fall migration takes them near the North Slope. However, seismic oil exploration activities produce so much noise that the bowhead whales now travel much further from the coast. This means Inupiat hunters face longer hunting trips into open water, risking bad weather and the chance that the meat will spoil before they can return. The Gwich’in fear that further exploration of the North Slope will threaten the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd, a key source of sustenance and materials.
Interestingly, oil spills in the tundra have not proven to be as disastrous as many had feared. Such spills have so far been small and localized, and the damaged areas have recovered. Particularly alarming, especially to the Inupiat, is the prospect of an oil spill off the coast. The report cautioned that such a spill would be exceedingly difficult to clean up, especially if it happened in broken sea ice.
Critics of further drilling have hailed the report, commissioned by Congress as it considers President Bush’s proposal to expand drilling in northern Alaska into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (just west of current sites). Yet the Alaskan senators and representative, along with most Republican members of Congress, are pushing hard for the president’s plan. It remains to be seen whether the coherent framework for protecting the north that the report recommends will be established, or whether the unguided and unfettered development that has occurred so far will merely continue, unabated.
