Publication Name
New York Times
Author(s)
Clifford Krauss
In an important step toward ultimate approval of new oil drilling off the North Slope of Alaska, the Interior Department on Friday tentatively approved Shell’s plans for responding to a potential spill in the frigid Arctic waters.
Shell still needs to cross several additional regulatory barriers before it will be permitted to begin drilling as many as six exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea starting in July. But the green light from the Interior Department on its oil spill response plan is a clear sign that the Obama administration is disposed to allow the drilling when it believes adequate safeguards are in place.
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Opponents said that Shell and the Obama administration had not fully absorbed the lessons of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11 rig workers and spilled millions of gallons of crude into the gulf.
“They’re just starting to look at issues we should have looked at three or four years ago,” said Marilyn Heiman, director of the Arctic program at the Pew Environment Group. “We need an additional two or three years of study to get the science right, to ensure proper monitoring and to protect wildlife.”
Ms. Heiman added, “They still don’t have standards for the Arctic, which is very different from the temperate waters of the gulf — the ice, the wind, the darkness. We think there are major gaps in this plan and they need to take more time.”
Read the full article, U.S. Tentatively Approves Shell Spill Plan for New Arctic Drilling, on the New York Times website.
