Federal agency proposes polar bear harassment permit for Prudhoe Bay work
BP wants permission for brief, nonlethal polar bear disturbance during cleanup at a 1975 Foggy Island Bay pad near Deadhorse. The public has until July 10 to weigh in.
A federal proposal would let BP clean up an old Foggy Island Bay pad near Deadhorse while acknowledging the chance of brief polar bear disturbance. For North Slope residents, the question is not whether work can happen, but how an industrial site in polar bear country can be restored without adding unnecessary risk to animals that already move through roads, pads and coastal work areas.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed an incidental harassment authorization for the Southern Beaufort Sea stock of polar bears in the Prudhoe Bay area of the North Slope Borough. BP America Production Company and BP Remediation Management requested the permit for work scheduled from June 1, 2026, through May 31, 2027, tied to cleanup at the Foggy Island Bay State No. 1 gravel pad. The public comment period runs through July 10, 2026, and the agency is taking comments from Tribes as well as local, state and federal agencies under docket FWS-R7-ES-2025-0506.
In plain language, the proposal allows for short-term disruption, not injury. The notice would authorize up to three instances of Level B harassment only, meaning polar bears could be disturbed by the work, but no injury or mortality is requested, expected or proposed. The activities include drone site surveys, surface water monitoring, removal of solid waste or debris, backfill work and revegetation, all of which can bring crews and equipment into areas where bears may pass through or linger.
The site itself is not new ground. State records say Foggy Island Bay State No. 1 was built in 1975 for oil and gas exploration. It sits about 20 miles northeast of Deadhorse in the Sagavanirktok River delta, beside the Beaufort Sea, just outside the Prudhoe Bay Unit and outside the Duck Island Unit boundaries. BP’s corrective action plan also includes well abandonment, removal of contaminated material and the use of about 9,400 loose cubic yards of gravel to restore the pad.
The broader backdrop is familiar across the North Slope: federal wildlife reviews keep landing on top of industrial work in polar bear habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists prior Alaska polar bear harassment authorizations from 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2026, showing a continuing pattern of scrutiny as companies work in the coastal oilfield. A separate 2026 North Slope polar bear proposal sought up to 18 Level B takes and three non-serious Level A takes, making BP’s request look comparatively narrow. Even so, the public comment window is where residents, subsistence users and local institutions can judge whether the promised protections match what people actually see on the ground.
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