JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is not trying to avoid cleaning up abandoned wells in the Alaska Arctic by having them declared historic preservation sites, an agency spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The suggestion was raised with a draft report on so-called legacy wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Notations for some of the sites in the draft — including one described as having a large amount of solid waste that poses a threat to local residents traveling through for subsistence purposes — referred to BLM preparing “a determination of eligibility” under the National Historic Preservation Act.