Without the ice breaker, Fennica, Shell is in violation of its own Oil Response Plan
If it wasn’t so damn sad it would be hilarious: Royal Dutch Shell (aka the Keystone Cops of the Oil industry) just crashed another one of their Arctic drilling vessels. And they still want to go ahead with drilling.
Tell Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to cancel Shell’s permit to drill in the Arctic Ocean.
First, Shell ran the drill rig Kulluk aground in Alaska in 2012, resulting in 8 felony convictions for recklessness and willful deception of authorities. Now they’ve torn a 3 foot gash in their primary icebreaker, Fennica.
On July 3rd, Shell was taking another shortcut through shallow, treacherous waters with the Fennica when they struck something hard enough to puncture the hull of their toughest icebreaker.
Shell is now violating any responsible reading of their permit and has proven they value money over the safety of our oceans and climate. It’s time to cancel Shell’s drilling permits.
Shell has been forced to send the Fennica south to Portland, Oregon for repairs. This is Shell’s only icebreaker equipped with a “cap stack”, the mission critical gear needed to cap a blown-out well. Shell’s own safety plans - the ones they had to submit to the Department of Interior in order to get permits to drill in the Arctic - rely on having two primary icebreakers in order to avoid accidents that can lead to devastating oil spills.
Yet the Department of Interior just granted a limited permit allowing Shell to begin the drilling process , while keeping it from actually drilling down to the oil itself. This conditional approval is another step in the wrong direction, but Shell will still need a new permit to drill for oil once it completes the Fennica ’s repairs.
Without the Fennica , Shell is in violation of its own Oil Response Plan, as well as its Exploration Plan.
The next step should be clear: the Department of Interior should cancel the permits they have already granted Shell, and refuse to grant any more.
http://mailings.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/2wA/ni0YAA/t.1oy/kqigAbXyS6SE6G7i5dOr-g/h2/uFwCxj38rekyVZlxUrOUCF6jAUitvYjXAsEK2nm2pZBvTkZ03E8fmJavYXeF9IRw-2BswnvzkeQO6Cn1grJVsQmYz6CCYGU9klhgNKp-2F3N-2FP4lGuoGLH47cyStvSNrmDPB0TojyOYx331XR4SssTriUHmmYsxYq7g-2FsQ6hse5kKJD-2BLy1e85eIcGdupItKaMvEkn3VG2aTCy3m41RJNlXh9QvQTJDZpqFJrc5IX3M5YX8-3D
Thank you for saying Shell No to drilling in the Arctic.
John Sellers
The Other 98%
P.S. Shell's icebreaker is due to arrive in Portland this Sunday. We will be there to meet them, along with hundreds of kayaktivsts friends.
Sources and Further Reading:
1.“Coast Guard Blames Shell Risk-Taking in Kulluk Rig Accident,” National Geographic, April 2014. http://bit.ly/1cnY6nN
2. “Damaged Arctic icebreaker’s route questioned,” Fuel Fix, July 2015. http://bit.ly/1IjusMJ
3. “Shell To Proceed With Arctic Drilling Despite Damaged Icebreaker Ship Carrying Critical Emergency Gear Heading To Portland For Repairs,” Desmogblog, July 2015. http://bit.ly/1Lv1prU
