From Alaska opinion page.  (To date there is no technology for cleaning
up a spill the in the Arctic Ocean)  Phyllis
Twenty years ago, the Exxon Valdez oil spill prompted Congress to call
for a national research program into ways to handle oil spills, a
pernicious side effect of our nation’s dependence upon liquid petroleum.
The research program never materialized, and now it’s needed more than
ever as the federal government sells oil leases in Arctic waters.
The chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission is expected to
deliver that message at a congressional field hearing in Anchorage today.
National leaders should heed his words.
Mead Treadwell, the commission chairman, discussed the idea with federal
officials Wednesday during a tour of potential offshore oil-producing
areas in the Arctic Ocean. He noted that opposition to leasing such areas
arises because some Alaskans have no confidence in the industry’s ability
to deal with spills. The last big spill cleanup in Alaska didn’t go so
well. Add some ice, and it becomes far more challenging.
Treadwell noted in a news release Thursday that scientists in Norway
already are studying oil spills and ice. “A recent test there, costing
over $10 million, showed promising results for a number of technologies,
including burning, skimming, dispersants, coagulants and bioremediation,”
Treadwell said.
Ten million dollars isn’t much these days, though. Tens of millions are
needed. Treadwell suggested the United States could find it in the Oil
Spill Liability Trust Fund, which receives a nickel for every barrel of
oil we use.
While such research is necessary and worthwhile, Arctic oil development
is not the irresponsible act often portrayed by environmental watchdog
groups. They often note that there is no proven way to contain or clean
up an oil spill in or under ice. Fair enough. At the same time, they
note, spills have been deemed a statistical certainty by government
analysts. Also fair enough. So the inevitable result is environmental
catastrophe, they assert. Not fair, nor logical.
The effect of a spill depends entirely upon its size and its proximity to
something that could be harmed. Oil already seeps into the ocean across
the outer continental shelf off northern Alaska. Natural processes
handily clean it up. And life is thinly dispersed in the Arctic, so an
oil spill would need to be truly gargantuan to damage the ecosystem on
any large scale, and the likelihood of such a gargantuan spill is
extremely low. Look to the Gulf of Mexico, where hundreds of wells pump
oil and major, sustained blowouts are unheard of, even after hurricanes.
Transportation accidents — whether from ships or pipelines — have proven
to be a more persistent threat. These aren’t likely to cause enormous
spills, though, so there is no reason for the federal government to shut
down offshore leasing in fear of them.
It should instead proceed with more research into the most effective way
to contain them. The Arctic Research Commission has a plan to lead the
way.
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