June 23, 2016 — JUNEAU, Alaska — A national environmental group on Wednesday asked federal fisheries officials to block an oil company’s plans for offshore hydraulic fracturing underneath Alaska’s Cook Inlet because of the threat to the inlet’s population of endangered beluga whales.
The Center for Biological Diversity in a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service said fracking increases risks of spills, earthquakes and toxic pollutants to belugas, which were declared endangered in 2008.
“Offshore fracking poses a grave and imminent threat to critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales,” said center attorney Kristen Monsell.
The chief executive officer of the company, BlueCrest Energy, said he doesn’t even consider the plans to be offshore drilling.
Fort Worth, Texas-based BlueCrest’s well will be on shore, said CEO Benjamin Johnson. The company will drill horizontally up to four miles to reach deep oil deposits and create fractures of about 200 feet, said CEO Benjamin Johnson.