State Of Alaska Redefines "Frost" To Extend Oil Exploration Season

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - "Snow is more important than ice in protecting the delicate tundra from disturbances, a finding that holds promise for a longer oil-exploration season in Alaska's rapidly warming Arctic, state officials said on Friday.

Officials from the state Department of Natural Resources, who released the conclusions of a study they conducted into the impact of heavy equipment on the North Slope tundra, said the finding supports a policy change that will help open the region to exploration earlier in the winter. "The results are we're going to be able to start every exploration season sooner now than we would have under the old rules, with absolutely no impact to the environment," Tom Irwin, commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources, said at a news conference held by Gov. Frank Murkowski. The study, funded by the US Department of Energy, was prompted by a warming trend that has drastically shortened the time available for exploration, from more than 200 days a year in the 1970s to about half that now.

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Technically, the department will still require oil explorers to wait until there is at least six inches of snow on the surface and 12 inches of frost below it before equipment may be driven over the tundra, Loeffler said. But now the definition of "frost" will vary, depending on how easily the ground is penetrated by a testing device."

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Kelly Scanlon Hill, Arctic coordinator for the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, said the conclusions were premature because the study was too short in duration and lacked peer review. "Impacts on the tundra might take up to two to three years to be noticed because of the ecology," she said. (Ed. - emphasis added)

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/28436/story.htm