Six Strategies for Rehabilitating Land Disturbed by Oil Development in Arctic Alaska
Oil development in arctic Alaska has left a range of disturbed lands that will eventually require rehabilitation. These lands include gravel roads and pads, gravel pits and overburden stockpiles, drilling reserve pits, occasional accidental spills, and other minor disturbances to the tundra. A long-...
Published in: | ARCTIC |
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Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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The Arctic Institute of North America
1994
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64366 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
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ftunivcalgaryojs |
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English |
topic |
Animal distribution Environmental impacts Floods Fishes Granular resources extraction Gravel Oil spills on land Oil well drilling Reclamation Revegetation Roads Tundra ecology Wetlands Wildlife habitat Alaska Northern Prudhoe Bay region |
spellingShingle |
Animal distribution Environmental impacts Floods Fishes Granular resources extraction Gravel Oil spills on land Oil well drilling Reclamation Revegetation Roads Tundra ecology Wetlands Wildlife habitat Alaska Northern Prudhoe Bay region Jorgenson, M. Torre Joyce, Michael R. Six Strategies for Rehabilitating Land Disturbed by Oil Development in Arctic Alaska |
topic_facet |
Animal distribution Environmental impacts Floods Fishes Granular resources extraction Gravel Oil spills on land Oil well drilling Reclamation Revegetation Roads Tundra ecology Wetlands Wildlife habitat Alaska Northern Prudhoe Bay region |
description |
Oil development in arctic Alaska has left a range of disturbed lands that will eventually require rehabilitation. These lands include gravel roads and pads, gravel pits and overburden stockpiles, drilling reserve pits, occasional accidental spills, and other minor disturbances to the tundra. A long-term research program investigating site-specific and cost-effective methods for rehabilitating degraded lands for fish and wildlife habitat has developed six general strategies that are applicable to the range of disturbed conditions. These strategies include 1) flooding of gravel mine sites for fish habitat, 2) creation of wetlands in ponds perched on overburden stockpiles, 3) revegetation of thick gravel fill and overburden to compensate for lost wildlife habitat, 4) removal of gravel fill to help restore wet tundra habitats, 5) restoration of tundra on less severely modified habitats, and 6) remediation of areas contaminated by oil spills, seawater spills, and drilling mud. Although most techniques are in the early stage of evaluation, preliminary results suggest that successful methods are available to create diverse, productive, and self-sustaining communities that are useful to a range of wildlife.Key words: Arctic, Alaska, disturbance, habitat, tundra, oilfield, rehabilitation, revegetation, restoration, wetlands L'exploitation du pétrole dans la zone arctique de l'Alaska a entraîné une gamme de perturbations sur des terrains qu'il va falloir un jour réhabiliter. Ces derniers comprennent les routes et plates-formes de gravier, les gravières et déblais des terrains de recouvrement, les bassins de réserve de forage, les terrains ayant été le site de déversements accidentels occasionnels et autres perburbations mineures de la toundra. Six stratégies générales applicables à la gamme des terres ayant subi des perturbations ont été développées grâce à un programme de recherche à long terme portant sur les méthodes - rentables et spécifiques à chaque site - de réhabilitation des terres dégradées pour la faune aquatique et terrestre. Ces stratégies comprennent 1) l'inondation de gravières pour l'habitat du poisson, 2) la création de terres humides dans les étangs situés en haut des déblais des terrains de recouvrement, 3) la restauration de la végétation sur les remblais de gravier et déblais épais, pour compenser la perte de l'habitat faunique, 4) l'enlèvement des remblais de gravier comme aide à la restauration des habitats de toundra humide, 5) la restauration de la toundra dans des habitats n'ayant pas subi de modifications aussi sérieuses, et 6) la décontamination de zones ayant subi des déversements de pétrole, d'eau de mer et de boue de forage. Bien que la plupart des techniques en soient au stade préliminaire de l'évaluation, les premiers résultats donnent à penser qu'il existe des moyens efficaces de créer des communautés diverses, productives et autorégulatrices qui permettent la présence d'une flore et d'une faune diversifiées.Mots clés: Arctic, Alaska, perturbation, habitat, toundra, gisement pétrolier, réhabilitation, revégétation, restauration, terres humides |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jorgenson, M. Torre Joyce, Michael R. |
author_facet |
Jorgenson, M. Torre Joyce, Michael R. |
author_sort |
Jorgenson, M. Torre |
title |
Six Strategies for Rehabilitating Land Disturbed by Oil Development in Arctic Alaska |
title_short |
Six Strategies for Rehabilitating Land Disturbed by Oil Development in Arctic Alaska |
title_full |
Six Strategies for Rehabilitating Land Disturbed by Oil Development in Arctic Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Six Strategies for Rehabilitating Land Disturbed by Oil Development in Arctic Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Six Strategies for Rehabilitating Land Disturbed by Oil Development in Arctic Alaska |
title_sort |
six strategies for rehabilitating land disturbed by oil development in arctic alaska |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1994 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64366 |
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ENVELOPE(-67.350,-67.350,-67.217,-67.217) |
geographic |
Arctic Gravier |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Gravier |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Arctique* Prudhoe Bay toundra Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Arctique* Prudhoe Bay toundra Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 47 No. 4 (1994): December: 321– 420; 374-390 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64366/48301 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64366 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
47 |
container_issue |
4 |
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1766290771583959040 |
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/64366 2023-05-15T14:19:11+02:00 Six Strategies for Rehabilitating Land Disturbed by Oil Development in Arctic Alaska Jorgenson, M. Torre Joyce, Michael R. 1994-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64366 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64366/48301 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/64366 ARCTIC; Vol. 47 No. 4 (1994): December: 321– 420; 374-390 1923-1245 0004-0843 Animal distribution Environmental impacts Floods Fishes Granular resources extraction Gravel Oil spills on land Oil well drilling Reclamation Revegetation Roads Tundra ecology Wetlands Wildlife habitat Alaska Northern Prudhoe Bay region info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1994 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:21:32Z Oil development in arctic Alaska has left a range of disturbed lands that will eventually require rehabilitation. These lands include gravel roads and pads, gravel pits and overburden stockpiles, drilling reserve pits, occasional accidental spills, and other minor disturbances to the tundra. A long-term research program investigating site-specific and cost-effective methods for rehabilitating degraded lands for fish and wildlife habitat has developed six general strategies that are applicable to the range of disturbed conditions. These strategies include 1) flooding of gravel mine sites for fish habitat, 2) creation of wetlands in ponds perched on overburden stockpiles, 3) revegetation of thick gravel fill and overburden to compensate for lost wildlife habitat, 4) removal of gravel fill to help restore wet tundra habitats, 5) restoration of tundra on less severely modified habitats, and 6) remediation of areas contaminated by oil spills, seawater spills, and drilling mud. Although most techniques are in the early stage of evaluation, preliminary results suggest that successful methods are available to create diverse, productive, and self-sustaining communities that are useful to a range of wildlife.Key words: Arctic, Alaska, disturbance, habitat, tundra, oilfield, rehabilitation, revegetation, restoration, wetlands L'exploitation du pétrole dans la zone arctique de l'Alaska a entraîné une gamme de perturbations sur des terrains qu'il va falloir un jour réhabiliter. Ces derniers comprennent les routes et plates-formes de gravier, les gravières et déblais des terrains de recouvrement, les bassins de réserve de forage, les terrains ayant été le site de déversements accidentels occasionnels et autres perburbations mineures de la toundra. Six stratégies générales applicables à la gamme des terres ayant subi des perturbations ont été développées grâce à un programme de recherche à long terme portant sur les méthodes - rentables et spécifiques à chaque site - de réhabilitation des terres dégradées pour la faune aquatique et terrestre. Ces stratégies comprennent 1) l'inondation de gravières pour l'habitat du poisson, 2) la création de terres humides dans les étangs situés en haut des déblais des terrains de recouvrement, 3) la restauration de la végétation sur les remblais de gravier et déblais épais, pour compenser la perte de l'habitat faunique, 4) l'enlèvement des remblais de gravier comme aide à la restauration des habitats de toundra humide, 5) la restauration de la toundra dans des habitats n'ayant pas subi de modifications aussi sérieuses, et 6) la décontamination de zones ayant subi des déversements de pétrole, d'eau de mer et de boue de forage. Bien que la plupart des techniques en soient au stade préliminaire de l'évaluation, les premiers résultats donnent à penser qu'il existe des moyens efficaces de créer des communautés diverses, productives et autorégulatrices qui permettent la présence d'une flore et d'une faune diversifiées.Mots clés: Arctic, Alaska, perturbation, habitat, toundra, gisement pétrolier, réhabilitation, revégétation, restauration, terres humides Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Arctique* Prudhoe Bay toundra Tundra Alaska University of Calgary Journal Hosting Arctic Gravier ENVELOPE(-67.350,-67.350,-67.217,-67.217) ARCTIC 47 4 |