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Dispelling the "2000-Acre Footprint" Myth Drilling would still sprawl across the entire area of the coastal plain, considered the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge. Proponents of drilling in the Arctic Refuge have long attempted to mislead the public by arguing that drilling will be confined to a small, compact area the size of an airport. This argument is intended to make drilling in the Arctic appear a little "greener" by grossly misrepresenting the actual area of the coastal plain that would be affected by drilling. In reality, drilling would still sprawl across the entire area of the coastal plain, considered the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge. No matter how well done, oil exploration and development will industrialize a unique, wild area that is the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge. The following are some examples of structures that could be scattered across the coastal plain and still remain under the 2,000-acre "limitation": 1,500 football fields 5,160 Statue of Libertys 1,340 Washington Monuments 20 Mall of Americas An examination of the "2000-acre" amendment reveals: Infrastructure Not Included The 2,000-acre "limitation" only addresses "surface acreage covered by production and support facilities." It does not cover seismic or other exploration activities, which would have significant biological impacts on the sensitive arctic tundra and the wildlife that rely on the security of those areas for survival. Seismic activities, conducted with convoys of bulldozers and "thumper trucks" over extensive areas of the tundra, would ruin the natural landscape of this pristine wilderness and displace its wildlife. Roads and Pipelines Not Included The "limitation" does not include gravel mines or roads. The "state of the art" 100-acre Alpine oilfield to the west of the Arctic Refuge required a gravel mine one and half times the size of the facility (150 acres) and includes several miles of roads, with more planned. The "limitation" also does not cover the many miles of pipelines snaking above the tundra, only the locations where the vertical posts that support the pipelines literally touch the ground. It further ignores the tundra permafrost excavated for buried pipelines. There are over 1,000 miles of pipelines in the existing Prudhoe Bay oil fields and 37 miles of above-ground pipeline for Alpine, with more planned. Contiguous Development Not Required The "limitation" does not require that the 2,000 acres of production and support facilities be in one contiguous area. Thus, as with the oil fields to the west of the Arctic Refuge, development could and would be spread out over a very large area. Indeed, according to the United States Geological Survey, oil under the coastal plain is not concentrated in one large reservoir but is spread under the Coastal Plain in numerous small deposits. To produce oil from this vast area, supporting infrastructure would stretch across the entire Coastal Plain. Photo courtesy USFWS. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club