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04/13/2010
In a media teleconference Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, USGS Director Dr. Marcia McNutt and MMS Science Advisor Dr. Alan Thornhill announced the Department’s strategy for gathering environmental, ecological and technical information to inform decisions on oil and gas development in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in the Arctic Ocean.
This is a podcast from the U.S. Department of the Interior
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar says the nation needs sound scientific information to develop energy resources in the right places and the right ways as he announced the Department’s strategy for gathering environmental, ecological and technical information to inform decisions on oil and gas development in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in the Arctic Ocean.
“The thrust of this is to make sure that as we develop our oil and gas resources in the offshore that we’re doing it based on the best science. The United States Geological Survey is the repository of the best scientist in America. They’re complimented in this effort with great scientist like Dr. Thornhill within the MMS. The Arctic is a place where the conditions are hard and where the changes, especially brought on by climate change, are creating significant changes that people who live in that area see on the landscape every day. So it’s important for us to have the best science available as we move forward in crafting the next plan for oil and gas for 2012 through 2017.”
USGS scientists will, by October 1, complete a special review of information that is known about the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea, including studies conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation and other science organizations.
Concurrently, the Minerals Management Service will conduct environmental scoping and hold public meetings on potential additional leasing in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas under the 2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing plan. MMS Science Advisor Dr. Alan Thornhill says MMS will also gather scientific information about resources, spill response capabilities, and environmental sensitivities.
“areas that we focus on with this research include how oil behaves on top of and underneath solid, stable ice and in broken ice and in cold open waters. We’re also developing operational tools to detect and map oil in any ice type and to develop effective responses to spilled oil in moving broken ice pack.”
More information on the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf strategy and Interior activities is at http://www.doi.gov/whatwedo/energy/ocs/
This has been a podcast from the U.S. Department of the Interior, I’m Ron Tull, Washington.
