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Alaska fracking rules would boost public notice, disclosure
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on September 23rd, 2013
Reuters: New regulations to oversee hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells in Alaska could be issued later this year by state regulators, officials said at a public hearing on Monday.
The regulations, proposed by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, would require the approval of regulators before fracturing is conducted, notification of landowners and testing of water wells within a half-mile radius, and the full disclosure of chemicals in the hydraulic-fracturing liquids.
While "fracking"...
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Fires, smoke, floods are drawbacks of Alaska’s hot summer
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on August 17th, 2013
Reuters: Alaska residents have been enjoying an unusually warm, sunny summer, but the pleasant weather has come at a cost: choking smoke from an extended wildfire season, flooding rivers due to fast-melting snow and glacial ice, and fish covered in algae.
Wildfires have burned 1.25 million acres across Alaska this summer, according to the state's fire-management center, the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. Seventy fires were active on Friday, including a 57,870-acre (23,400-hectare) blaze near Delta...
Fish die as Alaska temperatures continue to break records
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on August 2nd, 2013
Reuters: Alaska's summer heat wave has been pleasant for humans but punitive for some of its fish.
Overheated water has been blamed for large die-offs of hatchery trout and salmon stocks in at least two parts of the state as hot, dry weather has set in, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Hundreds of grayling and rainbow trout died in June after being placed in a Fairbanks lake, the department reported. An unusually cold spring caused lake ice to linger much longer than normal, before...
New strategy needed to cope with Arctic environmental changes: Report
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on April 5th, 2013
Reuters: With the warming U.S. Arctic region poised for greater oil and mining development, the White House needs to develop a national strategy that can take environmental decisions on a larger scale, a report issued Thursday concluded.
The study recommends greater coordination between federal, state and local agencies to better manage resources in Alaska, said the U.S. Department of Interior's Alaska Interagency Working Group in its report that was presented to President Barack Obama.
"It is imperative...
Environmental group sues for federal protection of ice seals
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on September 13th, 2012
Reuters: Environmentalists sued the Obama administration on Wednesday seeking federal safeguards for seals that rely on vanishing Arctic sea ice and accusing the government of dragging its feet in listing the marine mammals under the Endangered Species Act.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, saying the National Marine Fisheries Service has illegally delayed listings for the ringed seal and the bearded seal.
Both dwell in coastal waters off northern...
United States: Huge 2007 tundra fire seen as ominous sign for climate
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on July 29th, 2011
Reuters: A wildfire that burned over 400 square miles of Alaska tundra in the scorching summer of 2007 poured as much carbon into the atmosphere as the entire Arctic normally absorbs each year, according to a new study in the scientific journal Nature.
The tundra fire, near the Anaktuvuk River of Alaska's North Slope, was considered an unprecedented event at the time. It was, by far, the largest single wildfire on treeless Arctic tundra ever recorded, and was twice as big as all previously recorded Alaska...
Water-oil mixture spills at BP Alaska facility
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on July 26th, 2011
Reuters: A spill of about 200 gallons of an oil-water mixture has prompted a temporary shutdown of an oil-separation facility at the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay oil field, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation reported on Monday.
The spilled material amounts to about 70 percent produced water and 30 percent crude oil, the department said in a statement. The material flowed into gravel-bermed, water-filled containment pits that encircle the flow station's flares.
The spill was discovered on...
Three Alaskans accused of trafficking in walrus tusks
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on April 29th, 2011
Reuters: Three Alaskans have been indicted on charges of trafficking in hundreds of pounds of walrus tusks taken from a remote Eskimo village in exchange for such items as cash, guns and marijuana, prosecutors said on Thursday.
The case against the three individuals, which also includes accusations of illegal sales of walrus bones and polar bear hides, marks Alaska's biggest case of illegal trafficking in wildlife contraband in years, said Yvonne Lamoureux, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Jesse Leboeuf...
Bountiful Alaska salmon harvest forecast for 2011
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on March 6th, 2011
Reuters: The 2011 Alaska commercial salmon harvest is forecast to be one of the largest since statehood -- but that doesn't mean prices will be coming down any time soon, a state fish and game official said on Sunday.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecasts that 203 million fish will be caught this year, the fifth largest haul since statehood, thanks to a combination of good environmental conditions over the past few years as well as careful management by the state.
The harvest of pink salmon,...
Trans-Alaska oil pipeline to restart interim flows
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on January 12th, 2011
Reuters: Operators of Alaska's main oil pipeline are working to resume flow on receiving government permission for a temporary restart after a leak idled 12 percent of U.S. crude output.
The Trans Alaska Pipeline System, the 800-mile (1,280 kilometer) pipe that usually carries 630,000 barrels of oil per day, has been closed since Saturday following a small leak at an oil pumping station. The restart will prevent crude from freezing while a bypass of the leak is complete.
The shutdown, which started...