Drilling on the agenda as Clinton, Salazar prep for Arctic meeting

Royal Dutch Shell has for years been seeking federal permission to develop billions of dollars worth of leases in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska’s northern coast, and other companies are also planning exploration. Multiple bills on Capitol Hill are aimed at expediting development in the region.

Longer-term, Interior is grappling with its policies for guiding development in the region that’s home to multiple endangered species and would present huge challenges if there were a spill.

While proposed development is slated for shallow waters – contrasted to the massive depths of some Gulf of Mexico drilling – the hostile environment would bring its own set of major spill-response difficulties.

In March 2010 Interior canceled upcoming Arctic lease sales as the agency mulls how to address the region in its upcoming 2012-2017 offshore leasing plan.

“The policy of President Obama and for me as secretary has been to look at the places where we can develop additional oil and gas, and that includes in the outer continental shelf and it includes the Arctic,” Salazar said Monday.

“We will make sure that if that development moves forward, that it is done in a way that is safe and protective of the environment,” he added.

Salazar answered a question about the Arctic in a press brief during the inaugural meeting of Interior’s Ocean Energy Safety Advisory Committee.

But the group – created to help guide offshore safety oversight – used its first meeting to focus on deepwater drilling matters stemming from the BP oil spill.

The members heard presentations about the various probes of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and an afternoon session was about lessons learned from the containment effort and spill response.