Willow Master Plan Draft EIS public meeting, comments due

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From the Alaska Support Industry Alliance: The Willow Master Development Plan Draft EIS public meeting will be held on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019, 6-8 PM at the Crown Plaza Midtown in Anchorage. 

FERC sticks to strict guidelines about public comment, so you should have time to give verbal input, should you choose.

You may submit a personal statement via online comment formemail or mail by October 29, 2019. Letters may be sent to Willow MDP DEIS Comments, Bureau of Land Management, 222 West 7th Ave., Stop #13, Anchorage, AK 99513.

The Willow Project provides for up to five drill sites, a central processing facility, an operations center, gravel roads, ice roads, ice pads, one airstrip, a nearshore staging area for module transfer, pipelines, and a gravel mine site.  Construction activities could span more than seven years and at its peak, construction and design activities could employ as many as 2,000 people. Long-term, the project will create more than 300 jobs for operation of the field. Of the various development alternatives discussed in the EIS, ConocoPhillips prefers development Alternative B and module transfer Option 1. The BLM also prefers Alternative B and Option 1. Public comments in support of the selection of Alternative B and Option 1 will be helpful in ensuring these are selected in the Final EIS.

Willow will be the first development in the Bear Tooth Unit in the Northeast NPR-A (National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska) on Alaska’s North Slope. Willow is approximately 30 miles west of the Alpine Central Processing Facility. Willow could be under construction in 2021 with first oil in the 2025-2026 time frame. Willow will be a stand-alone development capable of producing in excess of 100,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). The project is estimated to cost $4 billion to $6 billion.

The attached sheet from ConocoPhillips outlines 10 Key Facts which can be helpful in your drafting of a public comment.

BLM website links for more information:
https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/plans-development/alaska/willow-eis
https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=renderDefaultPlanOrProjectSite&projectId=109410&dctmId=0b0003e881148506
Draft Willow Master Development Plan EIS