Hilcorp seeks to fill Beluga wetlands for gas storage pad under emergency review

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation opened public comment Wednesday on Hilcorp Alaska's request for Clean Water Act Section 401 certification. The company wants to fill 2.35 acres of wetlands near Beluga to build a gravel pad for natural gas storage. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reviewing the project's Section 404 permit under emergency procedures.

Hilcorp says the storage would serve Alaska utility customers. Chugach Electric Association, which owns two-thirds of the Beluga gas field while Hilcorp owns one-third and operates it, says it is evaluating up to 20 billion cubic feet of storage at the Beluga River Unit. The utility has not named a specific project.

The Corps' Alaska District found the request meets Executive Order 14156, the president's national energy emergency declaration. That route is reserved for cases where normal processing would cause an unacceptable hazard to life, significant property loss, or immediate, unforeseen and significant economic hardship.

The pad would cover about 7.38 acres north of the Chugach power plant, on Chugach property in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Hilcorp estimates an Oct. 26 start and an April 30, 2027, finish. No work has begun. The pad is graded to eventually hold up to 10 storage wells and surface facilities, which DEC's notice says fall outside this application. Storing gas would also require a state lease and an injection order from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The record does not show the status of either.

Hilcorp says the site holds no rare or threatened wetlands, mudflats or anadromous fish waters, and it proposes measures such as silt fencing and revegetation instead of compensatory mitigation. Surveyors found a small, likely permanent stream within the surveyed area; a consultant's alternatives analysis rejected a layout sitting directly on that stream in favor of one west of the Beluga Highway.

The Corps takes comments through Oct. 30. DEC takes water quality comments or hearing requests through Nov. 6 on its public notices page.