Udall Plans Bill to Ban Oil Hunt in Arctic Refuge

Spurred by an Interior Department recommendation to open 1.5 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, Rep. Morris K. Udall (D-Ariz.) announced Monday that he will introduce legislation to designate the region as a protected wilderness area and prohibit any drilling.

The Interior Department proposal, which was released Sunday, termed the coastal plain of Alaska’s northeastern shore as “the most outstanding frontier oil and gas area in the U.S.” and said that petroleum production would have “substantial economic and national security benefits.”

But Udall, joining a chorus of protests from environmentalists, called the plan “inconsistent with the wishes of Congress in designating protected areas” and said drilling would endanger wildlife in the area, according to spokesman Robert A. Neuman.

He said the bill will be among Udall’s “initial” legislative initiatives when Congress reconvenes in January. Elevating the refuge’s status to that of an official wilderness area would automatically ban mineral exploration there. Udall was the principal sponsor of a similar measure last year that was not enacted.

The Interior Department recommendation was presented by Assistant Secretary William P. Horn after a nearly six-year government study of the coastal region. The study was initiated in 1980 in conjunction with legislation that doubled the size of the refuge to 18 million acres.

The issue will be open to public comment for 60 days before Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel makes an official proposal to Congress in late March or early April.

Horn said that seismic tests have indicated that the 1.5-million acre coastal plain contains about 13 billion barrels of oil, and possibly as much as 30 billion barrels, as well as vast supplies of gas. Even with the more conservative projection, its production would be “much, much larger than Prudhoe Bay,” currently the largest oil field in the country.

Horn said the government’s $5-million study concluded that oil and gas exploration would have “limited adverse effects on the fish and wildlife resources” there.