"No new seismic studies will be conducted this winter in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge due to questions raised about the impacts of testing on local polar bear populations and tundra conditions, the Bureau of Land Management said this week.
Interior Department officials announced at a public meeting Tuesday in Kaktovik, Alaska, that SAExploration, a Houston-based oil field services company, will not begin seismic testing during this winter's ice-road construction season. The news was first reported by Alaska Public Media.
SAExploration and two Alaska Native corporations filed an application in May 2018 to shoot seismic surveys across the entire 2,602-square-mile coastal plain this winter and, if necessary, during the 2019-2020 winter ice road season."
Margaret Kriz Hobson reports for Greenwire February 7, 2019.
