HJR 29 Summary

• Urges the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, to properly plug approximately 137 abandoned wells (legacy wells) drilled by the Navy and U.S. Geological Survey in northern Alaska between 1944 and 1981, with only 7 properly plugged and reclaimed to date.

• States that the remaining legacy wells violate Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulations, with 42 wells in flagrant non-compliance, and pose significant risks to vegetation, groundwater, fish, and land and sea mammals.

• Notes the federal government has received $9,480,946,486 from lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and outer continental shelf and should use those funds for plugging and reclamation efforts.

• Requests the Governor's Office increase nationwide awareness about the dangerous conditions of legacy wells and well sites through national news outlets and other available means.

• Directs copies of the resolution to the President, Secretary of the Interior, BLM Director, and Alaska's congressional delegation.