MMS extends scoping comments deadline for Bristol Bay lease sale

The Minerals Management Service has extended its deadline for accepting comments from the public about what the federal agency should consider as it weighs the environmental impacts of future oil and gas development in Bristol Bay.

That formal “scoping process” will now run through Oct. 17, 2008, although the MMS will still consider new information as it begins preparing an environmental impact statement after that deadline.

This effort to define the scope of that EIS is part of a larger information gathering effort. The lease sale for the North Aleutian Basin is still just a proposal, the MMS said.

The MMS decided to extend the deadline for comments to accommodate the busy summer fishing season in the Bristol Bay area, where the proposed lease sale would take place in 2011.

Between now and the middle of September, the MMS will host seven meetings in communities throughout the Bristol Bay region to hear thoughts and concerns from people who would be most directly impacted by oil and gas drilling.

“We want to be sure we’re capturing topics that may have changed from the last EIS we did,” said Robin Cacy, spokeswoman for the MMS in Alaska.

The North Aleutian Basin hasn’t been leased since 1988. The federal government eventually bought back those leases following a congressional moratorium on drilling in the area. Congress lifted that moratorium in 2004, and President George W. Bush lifted a similar presidential moratorium in 2007, opening the way for future development.

— Petroleum News