Oil and gas development in the Chukchi Sea would run a 75% risk of at least one large oil spill of more than 1,000 barrels, according to a draft environmental impact statement released late last week by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The supplementary analysis was conducted under court order, after the Ninth Circuit Court declared a proposed drilling lease unlawful without further environmental review. “This is the second time the massive offshore oil and gas sale, which was rushed through based on poor science and arbitrary economic assumptions, has been sent back by the courts,” Earthjustice notes.
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