U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says a proposal to have the state help pay for clean-up of abandoned federal well sites in the Alaska arctic is “dead on arrival.”
During a subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C. today (Tuesday), Murkowski said the responsibility falls to the federal government.
President Barack Obama has proposed “temporarily” halting revenue sharing payments to Alaska from oil and gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and diverting it to a new fund. The fund would supplement U.S. Bureau of Land Management spending on things like cleaning up the well sites and completing land conveyances.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says she shares concerns about the well sites but says Alaska’s revenue share seems to be a “reasonable source” to help address the issue in a tight budget environment.
