Shell's Arctic Drilling Plans May Have Just Hit a Snag

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Environmentalists fighting Shell's plans to drill for oil in the Arctic think they've found a new way to stop the work, arguing the proposed wells will be too close to each other.

A 2013 rule by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) requires offshore wells in the Chukchi Sea to be at least 15 miles apart to protect walruses—a source of food for both polar bears and Native Alaskan subsistence hunters. Shell's proposed well sites are expected to be about nine miles from each other, the environmental law firm Earthjustice and a coalition of environmental groups have asked Interior Secretary Sally Jewel to yank the government's tentative approval.

"There are once again significant problems with Shell's planned operations in the Arctic Ocean on the eve of the company commencing," Michael LeVine, an Alaska-based lawyer for the marine conservation group Oceana, told VICE News. "This unfortunately appears to us like history repeating itself. The government has rushed through approvals for Shell, and Shell has submitted a plan that it knew or certainly should have known didn't comply with important protections for walrus."

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Shell has mustered a small fleet for its second attempt to tap into the Arctic seabed about 70 miles off Alaska's northern shore, and the first vessels are already en route. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), one of the Interior Department agencies that must sign off on Shell's exploration plans, gave the company its conditional approval in May.

In a letter to Jewell, Earthjustice, Oceana, and other groups argue that the May decision is based "on a presumed drilling scenario that is unlawful and must be rescinded."

In a written statement to VICE News, Interior spokeswoman Jessica Kershaw said FWS "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," Kershaw said.

In addition to BOEM and FWS, Shell is still waiting for approval from Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

Related: Shell's Arctic drilling is far more risky than the company is telling shareholders, say conservationists

In 2013, the FWS found that walruses and bears "will experience only short-term, temporary, and minimal changes to their normal behavior" under the 15-mile rule. Shell objected to the proposed rule at the time, arguing the minimum spacing requirement "is not scientifically supported."

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith told VICE News that the company continues to work with regulators to get the approvals needed, adding, "All of our permit applications are based on sound science."

Several of the company's vessels, including the semisubmersible drill rig Polar Pioneer, are now headed north, Smith said. Drilling can begin as early as July 15, but Smith said the company will be watching the ice "to determine when we can safely commence operations."

US officials estimate nearly 90 billion barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas lie beneath the Arctic seafloor. And with carbon emissions from fossil fuels warming the region roughly twice as fast as lower latitudes, the ocean's shrinking ice cover has opened up new opportunities to tap into those potential reserves.

But environmentalists say it's too risky to drill in the remote, frigid, and environmentally sensitive region — and they point to Shell's last attempt, which was cut short by a variety of problems, as evidence. LeVine said regulators "appear to be operating on Shell's timetable," and called the Interior Department's record so far "disappointing at best."

"Certainly, Secretary Jewell, the president, and the Department of the Interior have taken some very important steps in terms of protecting areas and supporting science," he said. "But those actions are undermined by the continued approval of risky plans by a demonstrably unprepared company in the Chukchi Sea." That's not consistent with an administration that says it wants to rein in the worst effects of climate change — "and as we saw in 2012, it's arguably not good for Shell, either."

Related: Polar bears are now eating dolphins in the Arctic

The company started two wells in the Chukchi Sea in 2012, but the federal government halted the work when an undersea containment device failed tests. Then the hired drill ship Noble Discoverer was damaged in an engine-room fire, and the drill platform Kulluk broke loose from its tugs and ran aground in a storm at the season's end.

In December, Noble Discoverer's owners pleaded guilty to eight federal felony counts and paid $12.2 million in fines for trying to cover up the failure of a key piece of anti-pollution gear and the subsequent dumping of oily water from its engine room. The same piece of equipment broke down during a Coast Guard inspection in Honolulu, Hawaii in April, resulting in the ship being held for a day until repairs could be made. Smith said Noble Discoverer is now in port in Puget Sound, near Seattle, and expected to steam northward soon.

Earthjustice is also asking the federal appeals court to halt the project, arguing that Bureau of Ocean Energy Managment gave Shell's plans only a hurried, "cursory" review before approving them.

Follow Matt Smith on Twitter: @mattsmithatl