INFRASTRUCTURE AS TERRITORIAL CONTROL The Development of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline
Instructor: Rania Ghosn Spring 2012 Abstract: The discovery of oil in Alaska’s North Slope in 1968 and the desire for the oil to reach the rest of the United State led to the construction of an 800 mile long pipeline stretching from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. While the pipeline only covers an area of 16.3 square miles, the areas affected by its construction process, maintenance and areas affected due oil production are a consequence of its existence. The journey of oil across environments resulted in tensions abetween environmentalist groups, the state of Alaska, Alaskan natives, and oil corporations over vast territories of landscape and land transfers from the late 1960s to the 1980s. Without a viable transportation route, the production of the oil reserve beneath the North Slope would not have been possible. The economic benefits of oil extraction and its access to the lower 48 states outweighed the implausibility of a transportation proposal. Since oil production on the North Slope relies on the ability for its transport, large efforts went into surveying the Alaskan landscape and overcoming obstacles of construction. Spatial concerns were a major factor in the environmental and political debates over the pipelines construction. Environmentalists quickly interfered with development efforts of the pipeline due to its possible impact on surrounding ecologies and species while native groups challenged land ownership rights.
above: media outputs as a result of oil spills in the United States.
Global events concerning the United States economy and security aided in corporate and the state of Alaska tactics for its construction. Also, corporate progress of pipeline technologies suppressed concerns of pipeline failure due to geologic events and extreme climate conditions. This project explores the development of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline from analysis of the tension over land between opposing groups as well as land transfers and leases before and after its construction. It identifies tactics at various levels used by environmentalists, corporations, Alaska, the Federal government, and Alaskan natives to gain territorial ownership.