Asked by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, about the Department of the Interior’s progress in reviewing Shell’s plan for exploration drilling in the Chukchi Sea, on Oct. 18 Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, told the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that “we’ll certainly do everything we can” to complete a full review of the plan in time for Shell to decide on whether to commence its drilling program in 2012.
“We’re working hard on it,” Bromwich said.
New agencies
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement had been dealing with Shell’s exploration plan, but on Oct. 1 BOEMRE formally divided into two new agencies within the Department of the Interior: the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. This division completed the breakup of the old U.S. Minerals Management Service following the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Shell filed its Chukchi Sea exploration plan with BOEMRE in May. However, with a court injunction in place against Chukchi Sea lease activities as a consequence of an appeal against the 2008 lease sale in which Shell purchased its leases, the agency placed its review of Shell’s plan on hold. On Oct. 3 BOEM issued a new supplementary environmental impact statement and associated record of decision for the lease sale, affirming the sale and thus potentially allowing the review of Shell’s plan to proceed.
The U.S. District Court in Alaska has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 26 in the appeal case, to review the status of the appeal and to clarify the situation regarding the legality of BOEM’s review of Shell’s Chukchi Sea plan. It is also possible that the plaintiffs in the appeal case will challenge BOEM’s new SEIS, placing another question mark over the status of the Chukchi Sea lease sale.
Beaufort Sea approval
Shell wants to drill in both the Beaufort Sea and the Chukchi Sea during the 2012 Arctic open water season and in August BOEMRE granted conditional approval for Shell’s Beaufort Sea exploration plan — the company has said that it needs to make a go/no-go decision in late October for its 2012 drilling plans. That decision depends on the company’s confidence in obtaining final approval of all of the various permits that it needs.
BSEE has been in repeated contact with Shell over the permitting situation, Bromwich said.
Shell has separately submitted a Chukchi Sea oil spill prevention and response contingency plan for BSEE approval, and Murkowski asked Bromwich if the need to separately review two different plan documents was slowing the plan review process. Bromwich responded that the new interagency working group mandated by President Obama was helping to facilitate the permitting process and that the various agencies involved were on track to conduct the plan reviews in a timely manner.
Vice Admiral Brian Salerno, deputy commandant for operations, U.S. Coast Guard, told the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that the Coast Guard had been discussing Shell’s oil spill contingency plan both with Shell and with BSEE.
“It appears that Shell has been doing its homework as to what is needed there,” Salerno said.
Logistical challenge
The logistical challenges of mounting an oil spill response in the Chukchi Sea would be enormous and, given the paucity of a land-based support infrastructure, much of what needs to be provided would need to be sea based, he said. Salerno said that the Coast Guard has indicated to BSEE some areas where the Coast Guard thinks that Shell’s contingency plan needs to be strengthened, but that those recommended changes appear to be achievable by Shell.
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked Salerno whether the Coast Guard is ready to respond to an Arctic offshore oil spill.
Salerno said that Shell would have to provide much of the response capability, with the Coast Guard fulfilling its obligation to oversee and direct any spill response operation. The Coast Guard is considering deploying some ice-capable buoy tenders in the Arctic region during drilling operations, but will rely heavily on Shell for logistical support, such as the provision of hangars; refueling capabilities for helicopters and aircraft; and command and control personnel. Hotel capabilities in the region are very limited, he said.
“Having people housed at sea would be a major consideration,” Salerno said.
