Deadhorse, Alaska and the Prudhoe Bay Oilfields

From 2,000 feet above the coastal plain, the view looks north toward the Beaufort Sea. The Canning River and the boundary of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is 50 miles to the east. British Petroleum (BP) and Phillips Alaska's network of oilfield infrastructure extends more than 80 miles along the arctic coastline. What once looked like the refuge is now an industrial landscape of drilling platforms, gravel roads, power stations, electric transmission towers, refineries, pipelines, processing and compressor stations, living quarters, airports (there are three that accept jets), maintenance shops as well as storage facilities. Similar infrastructure would be required in the refuge if Congress capitulates to the demands of Cheney and Bush.

At the present time, development at the Prudhoe Bay complex (18 other producing oil fields and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline) has directly affected about 22,000 acres of tundra wetlands. However, when viewed in total, the industrial architecture wraps across more than 1,100 square miles of the North Slope. This is approximately the size of the state of Rhode Island.

Improved technologies are slightly reducing the impact of continued oil field development in the arctic. Directional drilling decreases the amount of land needed for well-heads and the use of temporary ice pads and ice roads during exploration precludes some gravel mining. Ice road construction in the refuge, however, presents a basic challenge. The Bureau of Land Management estimates the water needed for exploration/development at between eight and 15 million gallons over a five-month winter period. The coastal plain's entire winter supply is about nine million gallons. This amount is enough for only 10 miles of ice roads. The ice road option appears less likely as more data comes in. While advocates of drilling and pumping the refuge tout the benefits of ice roads, they are undoubtedly planning to mine gravel and build permanent roads.