Walruses may foil Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic offshore drilling plans set to begin this summer.
The Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service said the company couldn’t operate two drilling rigs in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s coast at the same time because it would violate a rule meant to limit disturbances of marine mammals.
Officially, the Fish and Wildlife Service permitted Shell to proceed with drilling while noting that it might result in some marine mammal deaths. A 2013 regulation prevents two drill rigs from operating simultaneously within 15 miles of each other, so Shell will have to do with one at a time because its plan calls for rigs that are placed nine miles apart.
The ruling is a setback for Shell, which shelved its Arctic endeavors after a series of mishaps in 2012. Drilling just one well at a time might dim the financial prospects for a project that already has cost the company $7 billion, but Shell said it was committed to restarting its Arctic program.
“Our goal is to safely accomplish as much work as we can before the end of the open water season,” Curtis Smith, a Shell spokesman, told the Washington Examiner.
Environmental groups have pressed Interior to reject Shell’s Arctic plan, which the department approved in May provided the firm secured all necessary permits. They were disappointed with the Interior ruling and pushed for a pause at the department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management before it issues any new approvals.
“The government is continuing down the wrong path. Rather than take adequate time to do the job right to ensure exploration drilling will not harm walrus or other parts of the ecosystem, the government is now taking a short cut to allow Shell to drill this summer,” said Chris Krenz, Arctic campaign manager and senior scientist with conservation group Oceana.
