WASHINGTON – The administration is in the final process of reviewing Royal Dutch Shell’s application to launch exploratory drilling in the Arctic and the permit is likely to be issued soon, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on a conference call Tuesday.
Salazar said Shell, which has been waiting for permission to drill for years, will get the permit if the company can meet “the most rigorous safety standards in the history of the United States.” He said inspectors will be on site 24/7 to make sure nothing goes wrong in the environmentally sensitive region.
Some Alaskans have been wary of drilling because of the environmental effects in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.
But Salazar said he is confident that there will not be any incident of spilling because of the strict procedures Shell will have to follow. Even if there is an incident, he said, response teams will be ready to wrestle with the situation “in a very quick fashion.”
“If we were not confident that would happen, we would not let the permit to go forward,” he said.
The Interior Department approved Shell’s spill-response plan in March and the company expects to drill exploratory wells in the Beaufort and the Chuckchi seas off the Alaska coast this summer.
Salazar said the department anticipates lawsuits if the permit is issued, but he believes the department has done its homework and can withstand any legal challenges. He said there are ongoing studies in the Chuckchi Sea to assess the drilling’s potential impact on marine animals.
“I am confident that with the work done in the regard ultimately we will prevail,” he said.
Supporters of Shell’s drilling plan say oil from the Arctic will reduce U.S markets’ exposure to the Middle East and create jobs with minimal environmental harm. Opponents say that drilling in the pristine region is likely to pose irreversible damage to the fragile ecosystem and if there is any oil found, it could be replaced by other cost-effective alternatives.
Recently, Greenpeace, one of the largest environmental group, started a campaign to create a global sanctuary that is off-limits to drilling and other industrial activities in the Arctic. The group also plans to deploy two submarines to monitor Shell’s process in the region.
Shell said in an online statement that it recognizes drilling’s potential harm to the region’s rich biodiversity and it is working closely with experts to manage activities in the ecologically sensitive area.