For the next four years, Shell's Arctic drill rigs will have a home in Unalaska.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources has issued permits for the Noble Discoverer and Polar Pioneer rigs to occupy state-owned lands in Wide Bay. That area was recommended by Unalaska's port director and marine pilots.

The moorage sites they asked the company to avoid are still on the table. But the DNR stipulates that busy areas near Nateekin Bay and Summer Bay are only to be used as a backup.

Shell will pay the state almost $63,000 in land use fees each year through 2019. The company will also be required to put down $200,000 in bonds and take out a $1 million insurance policy against accidents.

DNR can revoke the permits if Shell violates their conditions. Those include proper disposal of oil, wastewater, and other pollutants.

That was a concern for some members of the public. In comments submitted to DNR, they asked how Shell's discharges would affect subsistence users -- and how fishermen would be expected to work around the 500-meter buffer zone Shell has requested for its rigs. DNR says it will be up to the Coast Guard to draw those boundaries.