ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Royal Dutch Shell’s quest to drill exploratory wells in Arctic waters has received a boost with the affirmation that its federal air permits for the Chukchi Sea were properly granted.
The EPA Appeals Board on Thursday rejected challenges to the air permits brought by Alaska Native and conservation groups.
Shell Alaska spokesman Curtis Smith said in a formal announcement that the decision means Shell, for the first time, has usable air permits that will allow its drill ship, the Noble Discoverer, to work in the outer continental shelf off Alaska’s northwest coast this year.
“Achieving usable permits from the EPA is a very important step for Shell and one of the strongest indicators to date that we will be exploring our Beaufort and Chukchi leases in July,” Smith said.
Drilling is strongly opposed by conservation groups that contend oil companies cannot clean up a spill in ice-choked waters and that the remote Chukchi and Beaufort seas are too far from ports, major airports and other infrastructure for an effective cleanup if there is a blowout.
Earthjustice attorney Colin O’Brien, who represented groups that filed one of four air-permit appeals, said in an e-mail response to questions that the decision could be appealed in federal court but that it was too early to speculate about potential next steps.
He said the EPA took shortcuts when it issued the permits and failed to fully protect Arctic air quality as required by the Clean Air Act.
“These permits pave the way for Shell to emit thousands of tons of harmful air pollution into the pristine Arctic environment, at levels that may be harmful to nearby communities and the environment for years to come,” he said. “We are disappointed that the Environmental Appeals Board decided against us and allowed EPA’s permit decisions to stand.”
