Petitioners request more time

The petitioners who appealed the U.S. Minerals Management Service approval of Shell’s Beaufort Sea exploration plan have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to extend the deadline for a response to Shell’s Oct. 30 request that the court lift its injunction on its drilling.

Three appeals have been consolidated into the 9th Circuit case. According to Earthjustice, the law firm representing the petitioners, Shell did not serve notice of its request simultaneously to all petitioners. Earthjustice wants the deadline for responding to key off the later of Shell’s notices. The petitioners also want adequate time to prepare a joint response.

Based on the later notification date, the deadline for a response would be Nov. 17. Earthjustice requested an extension to Nov. 21 “to respond fully to the number of substantive issues raised in Shell’s motion, to accommodate the extra coordination required to prepare a joint response and because of Petitioners’ conflicting deadlines for other matters pending in this Court.”

Shell has requested that the court lift its injunction on Beaufort Sea drilling because, the company says, circumstances surrounding the drilling have changed since the injunction was imposed. On Nov. 6 the U.S. Department of the Interior filed a response supporting Shell’s request.

“While MMS maintains that its environmental analysis was sufficient for the approved use of two drill vessels each open-water season, Shell’s current plan to use only one drill vessel during the 2009 season eliminates much of the controversy regarding the propriety of that (exploration plan) approval,” said U.S. Department of Justice attorney David Shilton. “… The public interest in expedited exploration and development of offshore oil and gas resources has been harmed by the delay, and will be further harmed if Shell is unable to complete any exploration in 2009.”

—Alan Bailey