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Off shore: Th e Arctic And so did the Department of the Interior who, in a March 2013 report, stated: This review has confi rmed that Shell entered the drilling season not fully prepared in terms of fabricating and test- ing certain critical systems and establishing the scope of its operational plans. The lack of adequate preparation put pressure on Shell’s overall operations and timelines at the end of the drilling season. Indeed, because Shell was un- able to get certifi ed and then deploy its specialized Arctic Containment System (ACS) – which the Department of the Interior (DOI) required to be on site in the event of a loss of well control – the company was not allowed to drill into hydrocarbon-bearing zones. Then-Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar put it in even sim- pler terms: “Shell screwed up in 2012 and we are not going to let them screw up after their pause is removed.” Lessons Learned The Pew Charitable Trusts reports in its recommendations on Arctic drilling that all drilling operations should be limited to periods of time when it is actually possible for crews to clean up the oil spill in Arctic conditions. Otherwise why else would a company go in if they couldn’t clean up a potential spill? The answer, simply, is that right now they legally can. With regards to oil spills and how the U.S. legislation oper- ates, it’s safe to say that much of the regulations and laws that exist now are knee-jerk reactions to prior calamities. After the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons into Alaska’s Prince William Sound, the United States Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 – a defi ning act that required oil and gas companies to create a “plan to prevent spills that may oc- cur” and have a “detailed containment and cleanup plan” for oil spills. Exxon Valdez was the largest oil spill in US history - until Deepwater Horizon in 2010. That year, a bill almost passed 11 Nobel laureates including South African Bishop Desmond Tutu and German chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concerns or sent letters to Russian president Vladimir Putin regarding the detainment of the Arctic 30, seen here scaling the rig in the Pechora Sea. April 2014 40 MTR MTR #3 (34-49).indd 40 4/9/2014 10:57:32 AM
