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AIDEA applies for Corps permit to build West Susitna Access Road
Alan Bailey for Petroleum News
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a 404 permit for the construction of a proposed West Susitna Access Road.
The proposed 100-mile road would follow a route northwest from Big Lake along the east side of Mount Susitna to a termination point not far south of Rainy Pass in the Alaska Range.
The road would provide access to natural resources on the west side of the Susitna Valley.
A 404 permit is needed for the discharge of dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States during a construction project.
Critical for access AIDEA said that the road forms a critical component of the West Susitna Access Project, a project to leverage the economic potential of the West Susitna region. Currently the region has no road access.
Potential resource development opportunities include forestry, agriculture, mining and recreational activities. The Susitna Valley has natural gas resources, with some possibility of oil resources on the east side of Mount Susitna.
A state report published in 2014 indicated that the region is one of the richest resource regions in Alaska and that a road would provide access to billions of dollars of stranded resources, AIDEA said.
“Alaska is a resource state, and the constitution requires us to evaluate how to maximize the use of our resources to benefit all Alaskans,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy has commented. “If built, the proposed West Susitna Road Project would mean much more than extracting the state-owned minerals essential for a modern economy, and the family-wage jobs it creates for Alaskans. It would also mean new recreational opportunities for Alaskans and thousands of additional acres of land available for agriculture to help our state be more food secure.”
AIDEA has been working with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough on the West Susitna Access Project for several years and in 2019 agreed on a framework for a phased feasibility analysis for the project. Since the 1980s the borough has been working on a plan for access to the borough’s western region and has established some natural resource management areas in the region.
In October 2021 the AIDEA board approved the receipt of $8.5 million in state funding to continue a feasibility study for the West Susitna Access Road Project.
In December 2021 the Matanuska-Susitna Assembly passed a resolution supporting AIDEA’s continuing permitting and predevelopment work for West Susitna access.
And in April of this year the borough completed an extensive program of outreach to the public regarding the project.
AIDEA says that the Army Corps of Engineers will now evaluate AIDEA’s permit application and determine when to begin the compliance process under the National Environmental Policy Act. The NEPA process will include opportunities for public comment and input from stakeholders in the project.
--ALAN BAILEY
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