Reply #26: here's another very informative article [View All]

written a few years back but still valid

"But the Alaskans battle a perception that the industry, based on its record to date, would despoil the last sizable chunk of pristine wilderness in the world.

"Misleading propaganda" is holding up the issue in the House, said Alaska Rep. Don Young. Industry supporters say environmentalists' complaints about numerous oil spills on the North Slope are misleading to non-Alaskans because the reporting law requires any and all spills to be documented, no matter how small.

"There's probably more oil spilled in a Wal-Mart parking lot on a daily basis than on the North Slope, from oil seeping out of cars," Dittman said.

"Very few spills escape the gravel pads on which we operate," said Ronnie Chappell, spokesman for British Petroleum, which operates the Prudhoe Bay unit."



http://juneauempire.com/anwr/oilandgas.shtml