Shell’s head of Alaskan exploration faces the press. (Photo by Fabio DiLupo.)
Shell’s progress has been slow, something it blames on basically everyone and everything: the air, the ice, the Department of the Interior. The one of those things that is capable of responding did.
“The cause for any delay here is Shell’s construction of its vessel,” [Interior Secretary Ken] Salazar said. “They have not been able to get it done. If they had got it done, they may already be up there today, because the waters in the Chukchi [Sea] around the so-called Burger find are already open.”No offense to the good people at Shell, but Salazar may have a point. I mean, the company can’t even get the order of things right. See, first you’re supposed to drill the well and then you’re supposed to pollute the water. Shell got it backward.
“It’s not a matter of ice, it’s a matter of whether Shell has the mechanical capability to comply with the exploration (plan) that had been approved,” Salazar added.
The containment vessel designed to capture oil in the event of a spill during exploratory drilling off the coast of Alaska has itself been responsible for four minor illegal fluid discharges during the last three weeks, the Coast Guard confirmed Monday.Not a major spill. Just some practice. (And in case you were wondering, the boat at issue here is the same one that slipped its mooring last month. She’s a rascal.)
The discharges all involved hydraulic fluid and were generally limited to about a quart each time, all of which was contained and cleaned up.
In all seriousness, literally nothing about this endeavor on Shell’s part inspires the tiniest bit of confidence. With any luck, the ice will come early this year and Shell will have to scrap the whole thing for the winter.
But — it won’t.
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