NPRA Willow Project Continues During Pandemic Despite Community Call to Pause

Please Register for one of the BLM Virtual Public Hearings on Thursday April 16.

On March 19th, during this unprecedented pandemic, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) opened the commenting period and scheduled "public" hearings through zoom for the Master Willow Project. Below is a letter asking BLM to suspend these processes that was denied on April 9th.
BLM responded with:

"Using virtual meeting technology allows for communities to request meetings at their convenience without concerns for weather or logistical costs creating a more efficient way to provide information and receive feedback with minimal cost to the American taxpayer.
It is also important to maintain a capable and functioning government to the greatest extent possible. In terms of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, the BLM is working to maintain services to the American people and our stakeholders, consistent with evolving guidance provided by the CDC and state and local and state health authorities.

We believe this course of action is consistent with maintaining a functioning government and the Administration’s call for action aimed at slowing the spread of the disease, particularly in our isolated North Slope communities."

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Stakeholders are the communities and Peoples most impacted by the development, which are the Arctic Slope residents and communities of Nuiqsut, Anaktuvuk Pass, and Ataqsuk.

These are the main concerns in this sham of a process:

-Nuiqsut residents, which are closest to the proposed project, have over half their community members in the high risk category for the COVID-19 as 70% of the population are on medication to support breathing.

-Iñupiaq People have 11% fluency in their language, which is primarily held by people over the age of 50 putting them in high risk during this pandemic.

-Ravn has stopped transporting essential items to the Arctic Slope putting food security, basic human needs, and all shipments in jeopardy. The North Slope Borough is currently working hard to ensure the community has food and basic necessities.

-BLM is required to provide true public engagement yet two of the three communities that are directly impacted by this project do not have high speed internet or good cell reception. These meetings are available to only the privileged that have access to the internet fast enough for a webinar and public comments and/or a cell phone with enough cell reception to be engaged. This will leave out a large portion of the stakeholders and is perpetuating environmental racism.

-ConocoPhillips has accounted for pulling out of the Arctic Slope for the foreseeable future during this pandemic, but BLM is not suspending their project while people are struggling to ensure they have food and a safe place to live.

-To attend the webinar you must register prior to the hearings that will be starting next Thursday, making another roadblock for public engagement.

We are asking for a call to action to let BLM know that this is not a public process. This is taking advantage of Indigenous communities during a time the Arctic Slope is making every effort to ensure the safety of our elders, food and water security for members of all the North Slope communities, how to ship basic needs, and prevent the COVID-19 virus from entering communities without hospitals, ventilators, and life saving resources.