Wed, 02/24/2021 - 9:28am
ConocoPhillips is asking for a ruling on lawsuits targeting its Willow project by July 1.(Photo/Judy Patrick/ConocoPhillips)
ConocoPhillips is asking the federal judge overseeing both of the lawsuits seeking to stop one of the largest North Slope oil developments in decades to determine the near-term fate of the project by the summer.
Attorneys for the Houston-based major that has grown its presence on the Slope in recent years proposed to U.S. District Court of Alaska Judge Sharon Gleason that she rule by July 1 on the merits of the nearly identical lawsuits challenging the federal permits for its Willow oil project. A midsummer decision would hopefully allow ConocoPhillips and Interior agencies time to remedy any issues ahead of the 2021-22 winter construction season, they wrote in motions filed Feb. 22.
Tue, 02/16/2021 - 1:23pm
The leaders of Alaska’s development bank have a deal to finance remaining preconstruction work for the Ambler mining district access road with the company leading exploration in the region.
The 50-50 cost-share agreement approved Feb. 10 by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority board of directors and signed with Ambler Metals, a joint venture of Trilogy Metals, authorizes up to $70 million of spending on the Ambler road until state officials decide whether or not to build the remote 211-mile industrial road.
It runs through 2024 if AIDEA officials don’t reach a final investment decision before then.
Mon, 02/15/2021 - 2:00pm
A TOTE truck pulls a 53-foot trailer off the Midnight Sun at the Port of Alaska in this file photo. A trial pitting the Municipality of Anchorage against the federal government is set to begin Feb. 16, some seven years after the lawsuit was filed and nearly 11 since work was halted on a failed expansion project. (Photo/File/AJOC)
A trial is set to commence nearly seven years after Anchorage sued the U.S. Maritime Administration for its role in the botched expansion of the city’s port but there is still a long way between now and a final ruling.
Wed, 02/10/2021 - 8:53am
Gov. Mike Dunleavy submitted the final piece of his 2022 budget plan to the functional half of the Legislature Feb. 5 but where the $356 million construction bond package will end up is anyone’s guess.
The general obligation, or GO, bond proposal in Senate Bill 74 would spend $356.4 million of state general funds to capture just more than $1 billion in matching federal transportation funding.
Dunleavy has said he wants to hold a special election this year should the stimulus effort pass the Legislature in order to expedite the process that would traditionally have the vote in November 2022. The Alaska Constitution requires a statewide vote to approve most forms of new debt.
Wed, 02/10/2021 - 8:54am
The Holland America Star Princess is seen docked in Whittier. Alaska is facing a second straight year of no large cruise ships in the state after Canada announced it was banning such voyages from its waters until 2022. (Photo/Andrew Jensen/AJOC)
Travel industry and local government leaders across much of Alaska are attempting to devise a Plan B after a decision by Canadian government officials upended the state’s coming tourism season.
That’s because Canada’s Feb. 4 move to again block cruise ships from calling on its ports in 2021 eliminates the only practical way for ships sailing to Alaska from West Coast ports to comply with the Passenger Vessel Services Act. The 19th Century law requires foreign-built vessels traveling between U.S. ports to stop in a foreign port along the way.