After years of controversy and delays, the feds have given the green light to Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean – Alaska.
The plan clears one of the last big hurdles for Shell to drill two exploration wells on two offshore lease areas in the Beaufort Sea. They plan to do the drilling between July and October of 2010 when the sea-ice melts.
The plan has raised enormous opposition from environmental groups, who point to the risks of pollution in one of the most remote regions of North America, and native villagers, who have sustained themselves for centuries on whaling.
According to the associated Press, Shell Alaska VP Pete Slaiby says:
“We sincerely believe this exploration plan addresses concerns we have heard in the North Slope Communities which have resulted in the programs being adjusted accordingly.”
Shell Drilling Ship
While the permit brings Shell one step closer to begin drilling, the company still needs an air permit from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The government’s leasing policy in Alaska has been pummled in court battles for years. In May, a federal court asked the federal government to review its 2007-2012 leasing plan for Alaska. That decision does not affect drilling in Shell’s two Beaufort Sea leases, which it acquired in 2005 and 2007.
Shell has bet heavily on Alaska’s offshore potential. In 2008, it paid $2.1 billion for leases in both the Beaufort and the Chukchi Sea, and now has about 200 offshore leases.
Environmental groups said they were disappointed by the decision and criticized the government for endorsing a leasing rush that was sanctioned by the Bush administration. Several groups said that Shell’s drilling would emit tons of air pollutants and water waste, and that it risked damaging the environment.
Whit Sheard, the Alaska program director at Pacific Environment said:
“M.M.S. is again trying to implement an overly aggressive Bush-era drilling plan in one of the riskiest areas on the planet to drill. Although fishermen, traditional indigenous communities, the courts and the global scientific community have all condemned this plan, the Arctic continues to be treated like a sacrifice zone.”
Chuck Clusen, the director for the national parks and Alaska projects at the Natural Resources Defense Council warned about the risks of an oil spill in Alaska.
“The reality of offshore oil drilling is that accidents will happen,” he said. “And when oil spills in Arctic ice, there is no cleaning it up. A blow-out like the one that recently despoiled waters off the coast of Australia would leave oil in the waters off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for decades, killing whales, seals, fish and birds and turning irreplaceable spawning and feeding grounds into an ecological wasteland.”
