By Rob Stapleton and Margaret Bauman
Alaska Journal of Commerce

The 9th District Court of Appeals has blocked Shell Offshore Inc. from drilling this fall along the northern shores of Alaska.

North Slope residents and environmental groups concerned about offshore drilling consider it a victory.

“This is huge, this is a big victory for the resident Inupiat of the North Slope whose questions and concerns about offshore drilling have not been addressed by Shell to this day,” said Rachel James, in the Alaska office of the Pacific Environment and Resource Center.

Shell spokesman Curtis Smith, in Anchorage, said the oil company is still reviewing the implications of the court’s decision.
 
“We are obviously disappointed,” Smith said. “Shell believes it has complied with the permitting process and met or exceeded requirements for responsible arctic exploration. That said, Alaska is certainly a long-term commitment for Shell, and despite today’s ruling, we really do see a bright future for Shell in Alaska.”
 
Smith said that while Shell has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Alaska on the offshore project, this is just the first year in a multi-year program.
 
“It’s not over for 2007,” he said. “There is potentially some work to be done (this year). Shell continues to engage with potentially impacted communities. It’s an engagement we value very much, and a dialogue we hope it continues for the long term.”

Environmental groups and local residents worried the drilling would disrupt the bowhead whales migrating through the area. The path of the drilling ran directly through the path of the whales’ migration. Villagers along the coast rely on the bowhead for subsistence food.

The order will block Shell from proceeding with its drilling plans in the Beaufort sea. The plan also stalls Shell from moving north with its 12 ships that are currently anchored in the Bering Sea.

The court order filed by the Wilderness League, the Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., and the Pacific Environment and Resources Center on July 19 has kept Shell from exploring the Sivulliq prospect about 16 miles off Point Thomson.

The ruling urged resisting environmental destruction on indigenous lands, and was filed as a project of the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, who were listed as additional petitioners against Dirk Kempthorne, of the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service, who issued the Beaufort leases.

Residents of the North Slope held a press conference in Anchorage on Aug. 14 complaining about the lack of communication with Shell to discuss their concerns about offshore drilling and oil spills in rough sea ice.

Whaling captains of various villages and leaders of the village of Point Hope, located on the Chukchi Sea, did not sign the “Conflict Avoidance Agreement” offered by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. The agreement would have allowed certain mitigation measures should Shell drillers encounter Bowhead whales while working in the Beaufort Sea.

The 9th Circuit Court is asking for opening briefs by the petitioners by Sept. 5, and the respondents brief by Oct. 5, with arguments due by Oct. 19.

The delay by these filings will likely stall drilling by Shell before fall freeze up in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.

Rob Stapleton can be reached at Rob.Stapleton@alaskajournal.com

Margaret Bauman can be reached at Margie.Bauman@alaskajournal.com