Lujan Delays Sale of Alaskan Oil-Gas Lease

Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. today ordered the postponement of an oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Alaska and the Cook Inlet, pending further study of the damage caused by the spill of the tanker Exxon Valdez.

Lujan, scheduled to make the announcement in San Francisco, said in a prepared text that because the proposed sale “is near an area directly affected by the spill in Prince William Sound, I have asked the Minerals Management Service to delay preparation of an environmental impact statement until more is known about the impact of the spill.”

The environmental study was originally scheduled for completion in September of this year, with the leasing sale scheduled for August, 1990.

The proposed drilling area, known as Lease Sale 114, encompasses about 16.7 million acres located between 3 and 400 miles offshore in the Gulf of Alaska and between 3 and 38 miles offshore in Cook Inlet.

Minerals Management Service spokesman Thomas C. DeRocco said that if Lujan decides next year to proceed with issuance of the environmental impact statement, the issue will first be reopened for public comment.

Lujan’s statement said, “In particular, we will be working closely with the governor and local communities to ensure that new issues arising from changed circumstances in the region are identified before we proceed.”