Natural Gas Development and the Environment.

• Author: JONES, PATRICIA

Environmentalists have been reviewing proposed plans for Alaska's natural gas pipeline for nearly two decades.

Environmental benefits from a natural gas project in Alaska are not hard to find. Natural gas is, far and away, the cleanest-burning fossil fuel known, and it's one that is plentiful and easily handled in the far north.

But what about other environmental consequences that stem from developing a large-scale project, such as the one that many state political and business leaders are currently discussing? Some conservationists worry about negative impacts to Alaska's land, water and air, should a natural gas pipeline project ever be built across the state.

To address impact issues early in the development process of a proposed natural gas pipeline, Yukon Pacific Corp., one of Alaska's most active gas advocates, engaged the environmental community by formation of a community review group nearly 17 years ago.

"We sat down with the local environmental groups and asked them, 'Where do you want us to go and where do you want us to stay away from,'" said Jeff Lowenfels, president of Yukon Pacific, describing gas pipeline discussions that started back in the early 1980s.

Lowenfels said that often environmentalist groups don't get involved in developmental projects until construction has started. By then, the engineering is finished and it is expensive to make changes. That's when it becomes the environmentalists against the developers.

"We just reversed the process by bringing them in on the first day...," said Lowenfels. "At the planning stage when changes are easy for engineers to design around."

Yukon Pacific implemented a policy of submitting plans and permit applications first to Alaska's environmental community through the review group, Lowenfels said. After that, such permit applications were submitted to the various state and federal regulatory agencies for approval.

"Literally, we have never submitted a permit without the environmental community first taking a look at it," Lowenfels said.

He's pleased with how the process has worked so far. "We have a much higher level of trust. It's one of the most unique relationships and mutual outreach projects I've ever seen."

Part of that unusual closeness could be attributed to the additional information the business shared with environmental groups. Because the gas pipeline project remains just a proposal on paper, Yukon Pacific has had to convince the groups that the pipeline will be...