Remarks Prepared For Delivery
By The Honorable Gale Norton
Secretary of the Interior
January 8, 2003

Alaska Pipeline Right-of-Way Signing Ceremony

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Governor Frank Murkowski, Vice Commandant Barrett, and distinguished guests: thank you for being here today.

Almost two years ago I visited both the north and the south ends of the pipeline. Most of the people in Washington, D.C., who have had the same experience are in this room today.

Today we renew our commitment to combine technological progress with strict environmental protection by extending the life of the Alaska Pipeline for another 30 years. Before renewing the lease that governs the pipeline's future, there are important lessons to remember from the pipeline's past.

In 1968, Atlantic Richfield and Humble Oil found huge oil reserves beneath Prudhoe Bay. Finding the oil was easy compared to transporting it from the frozen north to the lower 48 states.

How to transport the oil inspired creative thinking. For example, as a test, an oil tanker was sent through the Northwest Passage to Prudhoe Bay. While the oil tanker ultimately completed the trip, it did so only after U.S. and Canadian icebreakers freed it from the ice pack.

A front page story in "Popular Mechanics" suggested nuclear submarines could transport the oil under the icepack. Another plan called for two airplanes to carry a huge tank of oil between them. Just imagine seeing that contraption up in the sky!

Someone even suggested that all the convicts in the United States be rounded up and placed at intervals along the pipeline route where they would pass the oil like a bucket brigade.

Thankfully, these proposals were rejected and a pipeline became the best option. But the pipeline created fears. Some Alaskans said a pipeline more than 800 miles long would cut the state in half. Others said it would stop animal migration and frighten caribou. Others feared it would melt the permafrost.

These fears were met head on. State, federal and private sector officials agreed to throw away the old rules for building pipelines in favor of new, strict standards for environmental protection. They heeded advice from experts at the University of Alaska, as well as advice from the Nation's best engineers. Their mission was to build a pipeline that would safely cross 600 streams, three mountain ranges and a major earthquake fault.

Did they succeed?

Well, the events of November 3, 2002, offer a great answer.

That day a massive earthquake rocked Alaska. It registered 7.9 on the Richter Scale. The Alaska quake was stronger than the 1907 quake that devastated San Francisco. The Alaska quake caused countless aftershocks, some felt thousands of miles away.

The Alaska pipeline was just 60 miles from the quake's epicenter. It shook back and forth, some supporting struts broke.
But the pipeline held. It did not crack. Not a drop of oil was spilled. No one was injured.
The safety systems put in place worked to perfection.

It's worth remembering that when the Congress made the decision in 1973 to build the pipeline, it passed the Senate by one vote. That forward thinking vote married an economic black gold rush to practical environmental protection

Today the pipeline produces 17 percent of our domestic petroleum. It has pumped nearly 14 billion barrels of oil and $400 billion into our economy. We need the pipeline even more now than when it was built. Our reliance on foreign oil has doubled in 30 years. And geopolitical events in Venezuela and Iraq have caused oil prices to rise 25 % in little more than a month.

The Alaska pipeline has a nearly 100% operations rate and an industry-leading safety record. Where mistakes have been made, lessons have been learned. The Exxon-Valdez accident, while not directly related to the pipeline, proved that more protection was needed. Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990,which requires that all TAPS trade tankers by double-hulled by 2015.

Congress was courageous 30 years ago when it voted to approve a pipeline of unimaginable complexity and cost.

Last year a majority of House members and a near majority of Senators were equally forward thinking when they voted for ANWR. The ANWR legislation also combined technological progress with strict environmental protection. This administration will work with the 108^th Congress to complete the ANWR task.

But today our focus is on extending the life of the Alaska pipeline another 30 years.

This action fulfills and important piece of the President's Energy Plan. That plan called TAPs "the single most important crude oil pipeline in the United States," and recommended that Interior "implement the most expeditious process for renewal of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System rights-of-way to ensure that Alaskan oil continues to flow uninterrupted..."

Vice President Cheney said the Energy Plan was designed to "help bring together business, government, local communities and citizens to promote dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future."

These principles guided the pipeline's twenty-month renewal process. This comprehensive environmental impact statement was conducted to ensure full public participation and a complete disclosure record. At every step, we coordinated with the state of Alaska. We continued the forward thinking mitigation measures that were part of the original pipeline.

We are continuing the highly successful Joint Pipeline Office partnership between the Federal Government and the State of Alaska. The JPO brings 13 diverse agencies together to provide the most comprehensive oversight of any privately owned facility in our country, if not the world. This efficient oversight protects the safety, environmental and financial interests of Alaskans and other Americans.

And, finally, we consulted extensively with the Alaska Natives most directly affected by the pipeline. As part of this agreement, we have renewed the commitments made to monitor recruiting and hiring of Alaska Natives.

Our action today commits us to continued vigilance, strict oversight and full compliance with all requirements.

For example, each company that now participates in TAPs must guarantee that it will meet all of its liabilities and obligations. This renewal includes, for the first time, a provision that at least every three years we will review and audit each company's ability to honor its financial obligations. This significant step will help assure that the resources will exist to operate and maintain the pipeline in a safe and environmentally protective manner and to restore the land following closure.

We have many people to thank for the action we take today. Ted Stevens, Frank Murkowski and Don Young made the TAPs renewal a priority in Congress. We also thank all the officials from:

The Joint Pipeline Office
BLM Alaska State Office
The Argonne National Laboratory
EPA
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service
The U.S. Coast Guard, Air Force and Army
The U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Pipeline Safety and Alaska's Departments of Natural Resources, Fish and Game, Labor, Public Safety, Law, Environmental Conservation and Division of Governmental Coordination.

On behalf of DOI, I want to thank all of you.

Now I'll sign the Record of Decision and the eight right-of-way renewal agreements.

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