Two federal agencies have reached an agreement with Conoco Phillips Alaska that moves the company closer to building the first bridge and pipeline over the Colville River on Alaska's North Slope.
The company wants access across the Arctic river to reach leases within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Oil pumped from the leases would be the first production within the vast reserve.
The Army Corps of Engineers in February 2010 denied a permit for the bridge and said a buried pipe would be less environmentally damaging. Conoco Phillips appealed, and the Corps sought a review of the project by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Interior Department announced Monday that the two agencies could accept the bridge if conditions were met, including engineering changes and substantial mitigation proposed by Conoco Phillips in consultation with the agencies.
"This is a positive step in the process of granting the Section 404 permit for the CD5 project. We have not yet seen the permit nor its conditions, but we are encouraged by today's announcement," Conoco Phillips spokeswoman Natalie Lowman said in an email to The Associated Press.
The company also has agreed to allow other companies that develop leases within the petroleum reserve to use the bridge rather than having to seek approval for additional channel crossings in the area, the department announced.
Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes oversaw discussions between the agencies and the company. Hayes is chairman of President Barack Obama's interagency working group for energy development and permitting in Alaska.
The Corps has not issued a bridge permit, but the Interior Department announcement said that agency is expected to carry out remaining steps of permit review in coming weeks.
The CD-5 field is on the eastern edge of the petroleum reserve and an extension of Conoco Phillips' Alpine Field.
Alaska's congressional delegation has pushed hard for the Corps to change its initial decision as a way to keep oil supplied to the trans-Alaska pipeline.
The federal government has conducted a half-dozen lease sales in the 36,000-square-mile National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska over the last 12 years. The president in May called for additional petroleum development in Alaska, including annual NPRA lease sales. The next lease sale is scheduled for Wednesday.
By DAN JOLING
Associated Press