The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued notices to Shell, stating that emissions from the two drilling units contracted for its recent drilling campaign offshore Alaska violated air quality regulations.
The EPA said that the Kulluk drilling barge, which hit the headlines on Hogmanay by running aground, and the Noble Discoverer drillship were both found to be emitting nitrous oxide during last year’s Arctic drilling operations violating federal air pollution permits in multiple incidents aboard each rig.
It said Shell repeatedly allowed the emissions, as revealed during the agency’s inspections and from Shell’s own reporting system, and that if the company intends to employ either of the rigs during its 2013 or future years’ drilling in the Alaskan Arctic, it will have to ensure they are brought up to the correct standard to comply with regulations and apply for new permits.
To compound Shell’s difficulties, the US Interior Department has warned that it is to conduct an immediate investigation into Shell’s performance during its 2012 summer and autumn campaign off Alaska, and these EPA violations are expected to be part of that investigation.
Further compounding Shell’s misery, Alaskan governor, Sean Parnell, has asked US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to include Alaska officials on the panel reviewing the 2012 campaign.
It was on January 8 that Salazar revealed that the department had launched the assessment, with special attention to challenges that Shell encountered in connection with certification of its containment vessel Arctic Challenger; the deployment of its containment dome; and operational issues associated with the two rigs.
The Kulluk, which grounded off a remote island near Kodiak on December 31, but which was subsequently refloated, is currently anchored off Kodiak Island while the rig’s damages are assessed. Any plans to move the vessel will be evaluated before it is moved, according to the US Coast Guard’s Unified Command.
In a defensive statement, Shell Alaska spokesman Curtis Smith said, “We have made every effort to meet the permit conditions established by the EPA for offshore Alaska.
“We continue to work with the agency to establish conditions that can be realistically achieved. We remain committed to minimising the environmental footprint of our Arctic offshore operations.”