title to lower Cook Inlet. 1 The decision gave the U.S. Government 

 paramount authority over these lands and rights to all royalties, currently 

 estimated at $1 billion. 2 



A Federal-state jurisdictional conflict is also brewing over submerged 

 lands in the Beaufort Sea. The dispute involves the ownership of 80,000 

 acreas between the coast and a chain of barrier islands seven to eight 

 miles offshore. Since the state owns only the submerged lands for three 

 miles around the islands under the Submerged Lands Act of 1953, there is 

 a one- to two-mile strip of land between the coast and islands claimed 

 by both governments. The state had originally planned to challenge the 

 Federal government's claim to the strip using the historic bay argument 

 but have altered their strategy after the recent Supreme Court decision 

 regarding ownership of the lower Cook Inlet . Instead two other arguments 

 may be made; the first may involve the use of the "straight base-line 

 boundary" concept which is a method by which nations sometimes draw 

 their offshore boundaries, and the second approach may argue that a 

 barrier of shoals off these islands should be used as the state's coast- 

 line. 3 Although the amount of land in question is small, the revenues 

 from leasing may be considerable. The disputed territory lies just 

 north of Prudhoe Bay and many geologists believe these lands are prime 

 propects for petroleum development. 1 * 



Another second area of disagreement concerns the adequacy of OCS 

 technology. Here worries are greatest about offshore production and 

 drilling technologies where there is the danger of a major oil spill 

 from natural or human causes. In particular, many doubt if industry can 

 operate safely in an environment where storm swells sometimes exceed 



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