Unalaska, AK – A federal agency will be holding a public hearing on proposed oil and gas development in Bristol Bay on Monday evening in Unalaska.

The Minerals Management Service will be taking comments on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a five-year leasing plan that would open up part of the North Aleutian Basin to offshore oil drilling. The area in question, known as Lease Sale 92, was bought back by the federal government in 1988 and kept off the market because of concerns over impacts that drilling could have on the Bristol Bay salmon fisheries, and drilling there remains controversial for that reason.

The area is still under protection by a presidential order, although Gov. Frank Murkowski has asked the Bush Administration to free it up for drilling.

The public hearing will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Monday in the Unalaska City Council chambers at City Hall.

The draft environmental impact statement for the plan can be viewed online at http://www.mms.gov/5-year/.