On Feb. 17 the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, or BSEE, approved Shell’s oil spill response plan for the company’s planned exploration drilling in the Chukchi Sea. Shell wants to drill up to six wells in the Chukchi Sea Burger prospect starting in this year’s summer open water season.
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has already approved Shell’s exploration plan for the drilling, but exploration plan approval was contingent on BSEE approval of Shell’s spill response plan and on the company obtaining a BSEE drilling permit for each well. Shell will also need authorizations from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the unintended disturbance of marine mammals as a consequence of its drilling operations.
“After an exhaustive review, we have confidence that Shell’s plan includes the necessary equipment and personnel pre-staging, training, logistics and communications to act quickly and mount an effective response should a spill occur,” said BSEE Director James Watson when announcing the response plan approval. “Our staff will maintain vigilant oversight over Shell to ensure that they adhere to this plan, and that all future drilling operations are conducted safely with a focus toward spill prevention.”
If BSEE approves Shell’s drilling permits the agency will inspect the equipment that the company deploys for the drilling operations, including a well capping stack that the company plans to have available in the event of a blowout preventer failure, BSEE said.
Months of review
BSEE said plan approval followed months of comprehensive internal, interagency and public review, including the involvement of the new federal interagency group established to coordinate the permitting of energy development in Alaska.
“Approval of our Chukchi Sea oil spill response plan is another major milestone on the path to drilling in the Alaska offshore this summer and further validates the huge amount of time, technology, and resources we have dedicated to assembling an Arctic oil spill response fleet which is second to none in the world,” said Shell spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh in response to the BSEE announcement. “Specifically, Shell’s OSRP includes the assembly of a 24/7 on-site, nearshore and onshore Arctic-class oil spill response fleet, collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard to test roles and responsibilities, and newly engineered Arctic capping and containment systems that will be tested before drilling commences.”
Range of reactions
The plan approval met with a wide range of reactions from people and organizations with different perspectives on Arctic outer continental shelf oil and gas development.
Supporters of Shell’s plans say that the company’s response capabilities are more than adequate to deal with a worst case scenario in the unlikely event of a drilling accident. And Alaska’s congressional delegation, anxious to promote economic development in the state, strongly supports the BSEE decision.
“I appreciate Interior’s final approval of Shell’s contingency plan for the Chukchi,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “Today’s decision confirms what we’ve known for some time — that Shell has put together a robust and comprehensive spill prevention and response plan that offers the highest level of environmental protection. … This represents great news for Alaska and the entire country. I cannot overstate the opportunity that Arctic exploration offers in terms of jobs and energy security.”
“After three years of hard work with federal agencies, we have cleared another hurdle toward oil and gas development in Alaska this summer,” said Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska. “In addition to the good news for Alaska jobs, this announcement includes a series of steps showing the federal government is preparing for short-term emergency response as well as long-term science to facilitate responsible development of Arctic resources.”
“This is great news for the state of Alaska especially at a time when we need additional oil flowing in the (trans-Alaska) pipeline more than ever,” said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. “The Chukchi Sea has the ability to create thousands of high-paying jobs, decrease our dependence on foreign oil and most importantly get this economy moving again. Shell has worked with both the state of Alaska and federal government to ensure their spill prevention plan is adequate, should a spill occur.”
Opposition
Opponents of offshore oil development say that not enough is known about the delicate Arctic offshore environment to risk an offshore oil spill; that recovering spilled oil from ice-laden water is impractical using current response technologies; and that the harsh Arctic climate would impede offshore spill response efforts.
“This plan might have made sense in a cozy DC office, but try reading it in the middle of an Alaskan blizzard with gale force winds in November,” said environmental activist organization Greenpeace in a Feb. 17 press statement. “This agency (BSEE) knows full well that a major spill in the Arctic would be an environmental disaster but they’ve decided yet again to put corporate interests above clear scientific evidence. This plan puts America’s natural heritage on very thin ice, and the global warming implications are even more serious. Shell’s gotten what it wanted this round, but when it comes to public opinion the battle hasn’t even begun.”
“During the same week that a well located less than two miles from the Arctic Ocean experienced a blowout taking days to control, the Obama administration today approved Shell’s spill response plan for drilling in the Arctic Ocean’s Chukchi Sea this summer,” said Lois Epstein, Arctic program director for the Wilderness Society. “Shell may have met all federal spill response requirements, but this does not mean that meaningful quantities of oil would be recovered after a major spill in the Arctic Ocean. Only about three percent of the oil was recovered after the BP spill, which occurred under temperate conditions. The Obama administration is caving in to relentless industry pressure to approve drilling in the Arctic Ocean before implementing key recommendations from the various post-BP investigative commissions; without sufficiently understanding the region’s ecology and the impacts a major spill would have, including on subsistence; and with only primitive spill ‘cleanup’ tools available.”
Beefed up plan
BSEE, for its part, said it has required Shell to rework earlier versions of its contingency plans to clarify how the company would mobilize and sustain “a massive response over an extended period of time.” The agency said that the changes include:
• a plan that accommodates a worst case discharge situation during adverse weather conditions;
• a worst case discharge scenario nearly five times the scale of that assumed in the earlier plans;
• oil slick trajectory planning for a 30-day period rather than for a three-day period for a worst case discharge; and
• additional information about how Shell would transport out-of-region equipment into the area where a spill response is taking place.
Shell has also committed to having available a capping stack to shut of any flow of oil from a spilling well, should other shut-off systems fail; the company will have the means to collect oil from that stack; and the company will have access to a drilling rig independently capable of drilling a relief well, to plug an out-of-control well if necessary, BSEE said.
Permit reviews
BSEE’s review of each of Shell’s Chukchi Sea well permit applications will take into account the unique characteristics of each well and will ensure that Shell complies with new rigorous safety and environmental standards introduced following the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the agency said.
And, although Shell’s oil spill contingency plan accommodates the possible presence of sea ice, a BOEM requirement that Shell must cease drilling 38 days before the encroachment of ice at a drilling site will minimize the risk of an oil spill occurring in ice conditions while also allowing sufficient time for relief well drilling in open water, BSEE said.
