Anchorage Daily News

Homer -- Pro-oil Republicans may rule the roost these days in Juneau and Washington, D.C. But in Homer, residents are still turning out en masse to protest oil leasing plans, as they have been doing since the early 1970s.

A crowd of more than 250 showed up for a federal hearing Thursday on a proposed oil and gas lease sale in lower Cook Inlet. The testimony lasted until midnight. Only three people spoke in favor of oil development, two of them from the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce.

Many others were irate at being called out again to restate their opposition to offshore oil development, which they said could bring spills, chronic pollution and aesthetic intrusion. Several showily re-read their testimony from the last such hearing, in 1995.

"How many times do we have to say, 'No, we don't want it?' " said Yvonne Prucha, drawing cheers and whistles from the crowd packing the high school commons area.

"It's a clear indication that the governor is out of touch with a large number of residents who don't see a future tied to the oil industry," said Bob Shavelson, executive director of Cook Inlet Keeper, a Homer group that helped organize the big turnout.

Speakers cited "deja vu" in recalling four previous federal sales off Homer's waters. But there are a few new twists with Sale 191, which is scheduled for sometime in 2004:

Federal officials say the sale is more likely to produce natural gas for Cook Inlet industrial consumption than oil for export.

The draft environmental impact statement downplays both the potential benefits and harmful impacts of the sale, compared to previous sales. Federal officials say this approach is more realistic, but critics say it underplays the pollution potential.

Opponents cited a new precedent: federal drilling cutbacks last year off the coast of Florida, in what was largely seen as an effort to boost the political fortunes of Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother. Homer residents said the Inlet, with its profuse wildlife and dangerous storms, is at least as deserving of an oil moratorium.

As in the past, oil development plans are splitting Kenai Peninsula communities. The Kenai Peninsula Borough government supports the sale, saying the federal Minerals Management Service has satisfied general concerns raised under a 2001 policy adopted by the assembly. More favorable testimony is expected today when the federal officials hold a hearing in Kenai, whose economy was shaped by oil development in the upper Inlet.

But in Homer, oil lease hearings have evolved into a highly stylized art form since 1976, when local opposition (and an embarrassing industry accident with a drilling rig) forced a state buyback of oil and gas leases in Kachemak Bay.

On Thursday, leasing opponents recalled past spills, promoted alternative energy and lambasted distant government officials.

"Please don't let anyone redefine my hometown from thousands of miles away," testified Whitney Cushing, a high school sophomore.

Tom Evans of Nanwalek cited Native concerns about polluted wild foods.

"How would you like it if your stores were completely destroyed?" he said. "All this scares the hell out of us.'

Another Homer resident, Dale Banks, waved a condom package and asked if people would buy a case of them if there was a one-in-five chance that "something might spill." The impact statement says that's the chance of a large oil spill if oil is found and developed.

A lone pro-oil speaker, Val McLay, said oil can be developed safely.

"There's a lot of rules in effect today as a result of mistakes made in the past."

But others said the promises being made in Juneau to cut oil regulations do not inspire confidence.

"Many of us have seen oil on the beaches and picked up dead birds and sea otters. We've been so clearly lied to for so long," said Charlie Gibson, a longshoreman who said he'd give up the possible extra income to protect the things he treasures.

Charter operators and others said platforms on the horizon would make Homer less appealing to tourists and threaten their jobs. But several Anchor Point speakers said a recent flurry of gas exploration in their community provided some good-paying employment.

"I'd be proud to know the lights out there are helping the economy," chamber president Kathy Toms said.

The federal studies say development would help sustain local oil field employment rather than bring in new workers. They say a commercial find might mean $2.8 million to the borough and $2 million to the state annually in taxes.

Opponents wanted the government to ban over-the-side disposal of drilling wastes as a lease requirement. Such disposal is barred in most offshore areas but not in upper Cook Inlet.

The 2.5 million-acre area for Sale 191 includes two zones that federal officials say are likely to be deleted for environmental reasons: one off the lower Kenai Peninsula and the other surrounding the Barren Islands. The federal offshore program is planning a similar sale for the area, Sale 199, for 2006.

The public comment period on the two sales closes Feb. 11.

Reporter Tom Kizzia can be reached at tkizzia@adn.com or in Homer at 907-235-4244.