In order to more accurately access the environmental damages that might be done to the ANWR if drilling occurs, we can look to the Prudhoe Bay area. Prudhoe Bay is a region just outside of ANWR, in which drilling began in 1968. Pamela Miller, who did a case study on the area says:
“Prudhoe Bay and 18 other producing oil fields sprawl over more than 1,000 square miles of America's Arctic-- an area the size of Rhode Island. Today the North Slope oil fields include 3,893 exploratory and producing wells, 170 production and exploratory drill pads, 500 miles of roads, 1,100 miles of trunk and feeder pipelines, 2 refineries, many airports, many camps with living quarters for hundreds of workers, 5 docks and gravel causeways, and a total of 25 production plants, gas processing facilities, seawater treatment plants, and power plants. Many impacts exceed the Interior Department's predictions in a 1972 Trans-Alaska Pipeline EIS. Gravel mines extracted 400% more gravel. Oil companies drilled five times more wells. Road mileage was doubled. Gravel pads for drilling and oil facilities were predicted to cover 2,155 acres, but such infrastructure fills three times the area. Drilling proponents say that impacts will be small due to technological improvements. Despite advancements, there are unavoidable impacts from the latest North Slope oil development.”
This just gives us a sense of how much more area was taken up in Prudhoe Bay than expected. This is also a possible consequence in the ANWR, thus impacting more animals than expected and disturbing the entire ecosystem. Because of the fragility of the ecosystem, any recovery is more difficult than most other places. Alaska is slower to recover because the plants grow slower and animals live longer. In a sense, the ecosystem moves in slow-motion compared to other places because the “turn-over” rate is so slow, making the entire area more fragile.
Prudhoe Bay proves to us how the ANWR needs to be protected and treated with respect because of possible expansion across more of the region than predicted.
“Prudhoe Bay and 18 other producing oil fields sprawl over more than 1,000 square miles of America's Arctic-- an area the size of Rhode Island. Today the North Slope oil fields include 3,893 exploratory and producing wells, 170 production and exploratory drill pads, 500 miles of roads, 1,100 miles of trunk and feeder pipelines, 2 refineries, many airports, many camps with living quarters for hundreds of workers, 5 docks and gravel causeways, and a total of 25 production plants, gas processing facilities, seawater treatment plants, and power plants. Many impacts exceed the Interior Department's predictions in a 1972 Trans-Alaska Pipeline EIS. Gravel mines extracted 400% more gravel. Oil companies drilled five times more wells. Road mileage was doubled. Gravel pads for drilling and oil facilities were predicted to cover 2,155 acres, but such infrastructure fills three times the area. Drilling proponents say that impacts will be small due to technological improvements. Despite advancements, there are unavoidable impacts from the latest North Slope oil development.”
This just gives us a sense of how much more area was taken up in Prudhoe Bay than expected. This is also a possible consequence in the ANWR, thus impacting more animals than expected and disturbing the entire ecosystem. Because of the fragility of the ecosystem, any recovery is more difficult than most other places. Alaska is slower to recover because the plants grow slower and animals live longer. In a sense, the ecosystem moves in slow-motion compared to other places because the “turn-over” rate is so slow, making the entire area more fragile.
Prudhoe Bay proves to us how the ANWR needs to be protected and treated with respect because of possible expansion across more of the region than predicted.