Greenpeace appeals to 9th Circuit

Greenpeace has appealed to the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit over an injunction imposed by federal District Court in Alaska, banning the environmental organization from interfering with vessels and drilling rigs involved in Shell’s planned Chukchi Sea exploratory drilling. On May 8 District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ordered the preliminary injunction imposing a number of restrictions on Greenpeace, including banning people associated with the organization from interfering with or boarding 29 specified vessels. Gleason also imposed exclusion zones around the vessels.

For a few days in early April a Greenpeace team protesting Shell’s Chukchi Sea program boarded the semisubmersible drilling rig Polar Pioneer, under contract to Shell for the Chukchi, while the rig was being transported across the Pacific Ocean.

Greenpeace argues that Arctic offshore oil exploration of the type that Shell plans to carry out poses unacceptable risks to the environment. On May 11 the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved Shell’s exploration plan, saying that the exploration program is subject to rigorous safety standards.

Shell is using a terminal in the port of Seattle to stage elements of its drilling fleet, including the Polar Pioneer, despite opposition from the mayor of Seattle, who opposes Arctic offshore drilling and says that the terminal’s operating permit does not cover the handling of Shell’s fleet.

- Alan Bailey