Walruses may stop Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling plan.
Two exploratory wells Shell wants to drill in the Chukchi Sea near Alaska violate regulations designed to avoid disturbing walruses and other marine mammals, a coalition of environmental groups led by Earthjustice contended Tuesday.
At issue is a 2013 Fish and Wildlife Service rule that states drill rigs must have 15 miles of space between them to protect animals. The pair of wells Shell wants to bore this summer are nine miles apart and therefore violate a permit requirement the company needs, the groups said.
“This means that any drilling by two rigs would violate the incidental take regulation,” they wrote to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in a letter, which was first reported by the Houston Chronicle.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s “decision and the accompanying Finding of No Significant Impact, therefore, are predicated on a presumed drilling scenario that is unlawful and must be rescinded,” the letter continued.
Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved Shell’s Arctic drilling plans last month on the condition the firm company could secure the necessary permits. At the time, Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the decision “signals the confidence regulators have in our plan” but added that “it’s imperative that the remainder of our permits be practical, and delivered in a timely manner.”
Environmental groups have tried to persuade the Obama administration against giving the project final approval because they say a spill would disrupt the fragile ecosystem and develop more fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. The oil and gas industry contends it can responsibly develop the resources and that the United States is ceding the region to competitors such as Russia.
The Interior Department said it was reviewing Shell’s plan.
“[Fish and Wildlife Service] is reviewing Shell’s program to ensure compliance with all applicable laws. Their review will ensure that measures are in place to minimize potential disturbances to walrus and other marine mammals,” an Interior official told the Examiner in an email.
But Shell has had some mishaps in the Arctic. A series of malfunctions in 2012, including a runaway rig, forced the company to sideline its program. Interior began crafting rules for the Arctic, which it proposed in February, following a diagnostic review of what went wrong with Shell’s plans. Meanwhile, other industry giants have sat out the U.S. Arctic as regulations take shape.
Shell included an alternative for one drilling rig in the plan it submitted to Interior, which ostensibly would work around the mammal regulation.
“We continue to consult with regulators on the terms of a letter of authorization,” Smith said Tuesday.
But environmental groups said the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management “refused even to analyze” that scenario. They said that’s because the agency concluded using one rig would extend drilling over a longer period and would lead to, in the words of the agency, “greater overall adverse environmental effects.”
• This article was published at 2:15 p.m. and has been updated.
