A Citizen’s Guide

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Interior residents will have a chance this week to weigh in on the proposed natural gas pipeline contract between the state of Alaska and the three major oil producers.

Gov. Frank Murkowski spoke in Ketchikan Friday as the state kicked off a series of public meetings aimed at answering questions about the contract and taking public comments.

The meetings, which are scheduled for eight cities in May and June, will include formal public hearings chaired by Revenue Commissioner Bill Corbus as well as open houses and project fairs at which state and oil company representatives will discuss the proposed contract and pipeline.

Meetings will take place Wednesday from 2 to 8 p.m. at City Council Chambers in Delta Junction and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. Public testimony will be heard all day in Delta and in Fairbanks between opening remarks and 1:30 p.m. and between 5 and 8 p.m.

Cherie Solie, director of the governor’s office in Fairbanks, promised everyone who gets there by 8 p.m. will be heard.

“We’ll go as long as we need to,” she said.

According to Roger Marks of the Department of Revenue, the meetings are both an effort to educate the public about the contract and a requirement of the Stranded Gas Development Act, under which the state negotiated the contract with BP, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil.

After the public comment period, Corbus is required to make a summary of the comments and a list of any proposed amendments to the contract in response to the comments.

Both meetings will begin with an address by Murkowski, an overview of the contract by Corbus, and remarks by Natural Resources Commissioner Michael Menge and Department of Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Greg O’Claray. Representatives from the agencies will be available throughout the meetings to answer questions about the contract.

Attendees to the meetings in Delta Junction and Fairbanks will also have the opportunity to fill out comment cards or type a comment into a computer, according to Solie.

The three oil companies will all participate in the project fairs. The Department of Revenue’s Jie Shao said the administration invited the companies to attend.

Spokesmen from BP and ConocoPhillips said the project fairs would be similar to other presentations about the pipeline given at locations such as the Tanana Valley State Fair.

“It’s something that we’re happy to do,” said BP spokesman Daren Beaudo. “It’s part of touching people and communicating with people, so we’re looking forward to it.”

Meetings will also be held in Kodiak, Anchorage, Wasilla, Valdez and Kenai. Three statewide teleconferences will be held at Legislative Information Offices in local communities from 6 to 10 p.m. on May 23, May 30, and June 5. Residents can also call toll free (888)295-4546 during those times.

Citizens can comment any time through the Web site www.gas pipeline.alaska.gov, by calling (866)512-5427, or by sending comments to Department of Revenue, Commissioner’s Office, PO Box 110430, Juneau, AK 99811-0430.

Informational presentations that do not include public hearings will be held at various venues in Kotzebue, Nome, North Pole, Tok, Glennallen/Copper Valley, Barrow, Homer, Anchor Point, Dillingham, Juneau, Bethel, Cordova, Haines, Sitka, and Seward. The presentation in North Pole is Tuesday and Tok residents will get an update on Wednesday.

Staff writer Stefan Milkowski can be reached at smilkowski@newsminer.com or 459-7577.