North Dakota Senator Joins Murkowski in Alaska Energy Tour

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is on a two-day energy tour in Alaska with Sen. John Hoeven (R-North Dakota).

On Sunday, they landed in Anchorage after touring various oil and natural gas activities on the North Slope. Among the places they visited were the abandoned legacy oil wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

The U.S. Government drilled more than 100 wells there and left what Murkowski calls an environmental mess behind. She said on Sunday that it was a disgrace and after touring the wells, she is eager to return to Washington and shine a spotlight on the issue.

"When they just walk away from a mess and say we'll get to that later on, that's not responsible. That's not the same standard that they hold private operators to," said Sen. Murkowski.

The senator says she intends to have Interior Secretary Ken Salazar tour the legacy oil fields.