Shell Oil Can't Drill This Year in Beaufort Sea, Ninth Circuit Court halts exploration amid concerns

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/007/shell-oil-cant-drill-this-year-in-beaufort-sea-court-rules.html

Shell Oil Can't Drill This Year in Beaufort Sea, Court Rules

Ninth Circuit Court halts exploration amid concerns over environmental harms

August 15, 2007

San Francisco, CA -- Shell Offshore Inc. -- which was on the verge of oil exploration in the Beaufort Sea -- cannot proceed until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether environmental harms were properly considered by the federal agency that gave Shell an exploration permit.

A coalition of Native Alaskans and conservation groups had sued to halt the drilling on concerns that such large-scale industrial activities would threaten endangered bowhead whales, polar bears and other marine animals in coastal waters just off the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. The groups challenged the permit issued by the federal Mineral Management Service on grounds that the agency failed to conduct proper assessment of environmental impacts.

The court, which had temporarily halted exploration last month at the groups' request, said today it would keep the injunction against exploration in place until the court resolves challenges to the agency's environmental review. The court put resolution of the case on a fast track.

The court order concludes that the petitioners "have shown a probability of success on the merits" and "the balance of hardships tips sharply in their favor."


Off-shore drilling could disrupt the wildlife near the Beaufort Sea
Photo: FWS

Noise from exploration activities will disturb bowhead whale migration and feeding in the Beaufort. Also at risk from disturbance and potential oil spills are polar bears and a variety of other animals, including the threatened Steller's and spectacled eiders.

"The cost of drilling will lay with the local communities when the effects are seen on a daily life basis affecting our lives and our health," commented Rosemary Ahtuangaruk, an Inupiat resident of Nuiqsut, a community near the proposed Shell lease area, and member of Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (Redoil).

FULL story at link.