CHUKCHI SEA WATCH
Policy Statement on Oil & Gas Exploration
Department of Interior's offshore leasing program and Royal
Dutch Shell’s proposed plan to explore for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea are vastly out of step with
sound science, indigenous knowledge, national and international law and the realities
of climate change. It imposes
unacceptable risks on North Slope Iñupiat communities [1],[2],
from Point Hope to Nuiqsut (including Barrow, Wainwright, Point Lay and Cape
Lisburne) [3],
and vulnerable Chukchi ecosystems that support concentrations of Pacific
Walrus, Polar Bear, Arctic whales and sea-birds found nowhere else on the
planet [4].
We
call on the Fish & Wildlife Service and Bureau of Safety &
Environmental Enforcement, under direction of the Department of Interior, to
deny pending walrus and polar bear harassment approvals that would violate the
Marine Mammal Protection Act [5],[6]
and to revoke all other existing permits on Shell's Exploration Plan in the
Chukchi Sea.
Approval of
Shell’s Exploration
Plan in the Chukchi Sea undermines
Iñupiat sovereignty and
subsistence rights [7], [8]and
violates Democratic Principles and the spirit and intent (if not the letter) of
our Nation’s most cherished environmental laws and regulations including the
National Environmental Policy Act [9],
Endangered Species Act [10],
Marine Mammal Protection Act [11],
[12]
Clean Water Act [13], Clean Air
Act [14]
and others [15].
The
Chukchi Sea is a wild, remote and vulnerable region of the world that is
warming twice as fast as the global average [16].
Rising land and sea temperatures are directly and profoundly impacting
Arctic communities [17]
and ecosystems [18].
A
large and expanding body of scientific, empirical [19]
and indigenous knowledge [20]
confirms that we must stop burning fossil fuels and leave a significant portion
– including all Arctic offshore oil and gas – in the ground [21]
and make a rapid transition to clean, renewable energy sources to limit warming
to a livable 1.5°C and avert run-away global climate change [22].
Ironically,
as sea ice retreats in response to warming, industry’s rush to claim the
Arctic’s vast oil and gas resources is intensifying, despite the extreme
probability of a catastrophic oil spill [23],
lack of essential infrastructure and effective oil response technologies [24],
extreme unpredictability of ice formation and weather conditions [25],
risk, cost and industry’s repeated inability to operate responsibly or respond effectively
to well blow-outs and spills, even in relatively mild conditions [26],[27],
[28].
A
recent analysis of spill response scenarios in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas,
commissioned by your agency, found state of the art tactics were not
possible 18% to 56% of the time during the summer drilling season [29].
Heavy reliance on chemical dispersants was assumed to be the primary tactic [30]
but the profound toxic effects of dispersants on humans and marine ecosystems
was ignored [31].
The
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management found a 75% chance of one or more
catastrophic spills [32]
from Arctic drilling. The reckless and irresponsible behavior of Royal
Dutch Shell and its contractors during the 2012 Arctic exploration [33],[34]
underscores the foolishness of green-lighting Arctic drilling and inevitability
of a catastrophic oil spill that would exacerbate international conflict and devastate
Arctic communities and ecosystems, including the spectacularly biodiverse Hanna
Shoal [35]
and Wrangel Island World Heritage Preserve [36].
[1] Fjellheim, R.S. and
Henriksen, J. B., Oil and Gas Exploitation on Arctic Indigenous Peoples’
Territories, Galdu Cala: Journal of Indigenous Peoples Rights No. 4/2006,
http://www.galdu.org/govat/doc/oilengelsk2.pdf
[2] Shell cancels 2014 Arctic
drilling – Arctic Ocean & Inupiat rights reality check, guest blog by Faith
Gemmill, Executive Director of Resisting Environmental Destruction on
Indigenous Lands (REDOIL), Platform, Jan. 30, 2014, http://platformlondon.org/2014/01/30/indigenous-rights-court-appeal-alaska-arctic-shell/
[3] North Slope, Alaska Land
Ownership Map, North Slope Borough, http://www.northslope.org/maps/
[4] Why Drilling the Chukchi is
a Bad Idea, Letter to Dr. James Kendall, BOEM Regional Director, Alaska Audubon, Oceana & Ocean
Conservancy, May 1, 2015, https://www.audubon.org/news/why-drilling-chukchi-bad-idea
[5] Earthjustice letter to DOI
Secretary Sally Jewell, June 23, 2015,
http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/Shell%202015%20Arctic%20Drilling%20Letter%20-%20Walrus%20final.pdf
[6] National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Incidental Take Authorizations under the MMPA, http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/incidental/
[7] Shadian, Jessica M, Of
Whales and oil: Inuit resource governance and the Arctic Council. Polar
Record, 49 (251):392-405 (2013), Cambridge
University Press, 2013, https://arcticextractiveindustries.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/shadian-of-whales-and-oil-final.pdf
[8] Department of Wildlife
Management, Mission, Goals and Objectives, North
Slope Borough, Alaska, http://www.north-slope.org/assets/images/uploads/Wildlife_Mission_and_Goals_2013-14.pdf
[9] Mark Templeton, Memorandum
Supporting Request by Oceana and University of Chicago Abrams Environmental Law
Clinic for Formal Investigation into Disclosures Made by Royal Dutch Shell PLC
About Its US Arctic Ocean Program, Abrams
Environmental Law Clinic, University of Chicago Law School, April 27, 2015,
http://usa.oceana.org/sites/default/files/oceana_and_abrams_clinic_arctic_ocean_petition_to_sec.pdf
[10] Rose Hackman, Shell’s US
Arctic drilling will harass thousands of whales and seals, The Guardian, June
5, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/shells-us-arctic-drilling-whales-seals
[11]
Earthjustice, letter to Sally Jewell, Secretary of Interior, June 23, 2015,
[12]
Marine Mammal Protection Act, Incidental Take Regulations, http://www.fws.gov/alaska/fisheries/mmm/itr.htm
[13] Rose Hackman, Shell’s US
Arctic drilling will harass thousands of whales and seals, The Guardian, June
5, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/05/shells-us-arctic-drilling-whales-seals
[14] Jerzy Shedlock, Shell fined
$1.1 million for Clean Air Act violations during 2012 Arctic drilling season, Alaska Dispatch News, Sept 5, 2013, http://www.adn.com/article/20130905/shell-fined-11-million-clean-air-act-violations-during-2012-arctic-drilling-season
[15] Jennifer Klein, The Arctic
Litigation Season, Climate Law Blog,
Columbia Law School, June 5, 2014, http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2015/06/05/the-arctic-litigation-season/
[16]
Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Impacts in Alaska. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/alaska.html
[17]
Alaska Native Villages: Most Are Affected by Flooding and Erosion, but Few
Qualify for Federal Assistance, United
States Government Accountability Office, GAO-04-142, December 12,
2003, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-04-142
[18]
Duarte, C.M., Lenton, T.M., et al. Abrupt climate change in the
Arctic. Nature Climate Change.
Vol 2, February 2012. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v2/n2/pdf/nclimate1386.pdf
[19]
McGlade, Christophe & Ekins, Paul. The geographical distribution of
fossil fuels unused when limiting global warming to 2oC. Nature. Vol 517
187-190. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v517/n7533/nature14016/metrics/news
[20] Barnhardt, R., & Kawagley, A. O. (2005). Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Alaska Native Ways of Knowing. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 36(1), pp. 8-23, http://ankn.uaf.edu/Curriculum/Articles/BarnhardtKawagley/Indigenous_Knowledge.html
[21] Rogelj, J. , Luderer, G. Pietzcker,
R.C., et al. Energy system transformations for limiting end-of-century warming
to below 1.5°C. Nature Climate Change. Vol 5, 519-527, March 2015. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v5/n6/full/nclimate2572.html
[22]
Lontzek, T.S., Cai, Judd, K.L., et al. Stochastic integrated
assessment of climate tipping points indicates the need for strict climate policy.
Nature Climate Change. Vol 5, 441–444, May 2015. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v5/n5/full/nclimate2570.html
[23]
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Chukchi Sea Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193, Vol 1, page 154. Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management. http://www.boem.gov/ak193/
[24]
National Research Council, Report on Oil Spill Response, 2014, http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/materials-based-on-reports/reports-in-brief/Arctic-Oil-Spill-Brief-Final02.pdf
[25]
Lee, J. and Yasumiishi, E. (Ed). Mudge, Todd, Borg, Keath, et al.
Chukchi Sea Ice Observations by Upward Looking Sonars, 2008-2014. 2015
Alaska Marine Science Symposium Book of Abstracts. January 19-23, 2015. Alaskamarinescience.org
[26]
Murray S., and Short, J. A Frozen Hell. Nature. Vol 472, April 14, 2011. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3079586/
[27]
Deepwater Horizon Study Group. Final Report on the Investigation of the
Macondo Well Blowout. University of California, Berkeley. March 1,
2011. http://ccrm.berkeley.edu/pdfs_papers/bea_pdfs/dhsgfinalreport-march2011-tag.pdf
[28]
National Response Team. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: A Report to the President
(Executive Summary). United States Environmental Protection Agency. May
1989. http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/exxon-valdez-oil-spill-report-president-executive-summary
[29]
Nuka Research and Planning Group, LLC. Estimating and Oil Spill Response Gap
for the U.S. Arctic Ocean. September 10, 2014. Funded by the Bureau
of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), U.S. Department of the
Interior, Washington, D.C. under contract E13PCOOO24. http://www.nukaresearch.com/files/140910_Arctic_RGA_Report_FNL.pdf
[30]
Ibid
[31]
Ott, Riki. Petition for Rulemaking Under the Clean Water Act.
Environmental Protection Agency. Filed on behalf of the ALERT
Coalition. http://alertproject.org/policy/formal-petition-to-the-epa/
[32]
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Chukchi Sea Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 193, Vol 1, page 154. Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management. http://www.boem.gov/ak193/
[33]
Funk, McKenzie. The Wreck of the Kulluk. The New York Times
Magazine. Dec. 30, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/magazine/the-wreck-of-the-kulluk.html?_r=0
[34]
Report to the Secretary of the Interior: Review of Shell’s 2012 Alaska Offshore
Oil and Gas Exploration Program. March 8, 2013. U.S. Department of
Interior. http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/upload/Shell-report-3-8-13-Final.pdf
[35]
Hanna Shoal Ecosystem Study, http://arcticstudies.org/hannashoal/
[36]
UNESCO Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1023
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