I have not been to the north slope, the farthest north I've been is Toolik LTER north of Wiseman and Coldfoot, but I do know quite a lot about tundra and it's extremely hard to reclaim once it's been altered. I've worked with people that study the impact of drilling on habitat. Also, take into account any and all accidents and chemicals that will leech into the ground. Drilling in 12,000 square miles will cause disturbances beyond those 12,000 square miles. Those establishments disrupt caribou and muskox as well as ground squirrels. The activities involved around oil drilling are known to pollute and intefere with fauna. There's been numerous studies on the alteration of caribou populations due to drilling, there's a very long list in google scholar and I'm not sure which ones you'd be able to see since I do not know which ones I have subscriptions for.
One thing to also remember is tundra once destroyed will not come back easily. If it does there is potential that brush will take its place which initiates a positive feedback cycle of warming soil allowing for higher nitrification rates resulting in brush and shrub distribution taking over tundra thus destroying an ecosystem.
The North slope is not the tiny dot that you believe it to be. In terms of land used, yes it is small, but it's impact is very large.
It's obvious that you are a very smart person and your knowledge of the tools and processes used for petroleum recovery is vast, but you have very little understanding in ecology.
