Shell Oil Rig Arrives in Seattle Waters Amid Protests

The first of two Royal Dutch Shell drilling rigs slated for Arctic oil exploration arrived in Seattle as environmental activists geared up for days of protests over plans to store the equipment at the city'sport

Shell is planning to use Seattle as a base to store and maintain the rigs and other equipment as it resumes exploration and drilling this summer in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, where it has not drilled since a mishap-filled 2012season.

The decision to resume drilling, and the port's decision to allow Shell to lease space in Seattle, has been met with anger by some city leaders and environmental activists who say drilling in the delicate Arctic ecosystem could lead to an ecologicaldisaster.

Environmental groups also contend that weather conditions make it impossible to safely drill in the remote Arctic, a region that helps regulate the global climate because of its vast layers of seaice.

Over coming days and weeks, protesters are planning dozens of demonstrations, including in boats and kayaks, to try to prevent the rigs from leaving again. At least one city councilman, Mike O'Brien, said he planned toparticipate.

Activists constructed an approximately 20-foot-tall (6-meter) metal tripod at the entrance to Shell Oil's fuel transfer station in Seattle on Tuesday to try to block access to therigs.

The Puget Sound region has for decades been a hub for equipment used in energy drilling in Alaska even as some environmental groups and politicians have pushed for the region's economy to move beyond oil, gas and coal and into cleanenergy.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council have urged the port to reconsider its lease to Shell, and the city's planning department has ruled that the port's agreement with Shell is in violation of its citypermit.

Source: Eco-business

Media

Taxonomy

• Policy
• Environment
• Fracking