# North Slope Blowout on Land Clearly Shows We Are Not Ready to Deal with an Accident in the Arctic

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2012/02/north-slope-blowout-on-land-clearly-shows-we-are-not-ready-to-deal-with-an-accident-in-the-arctic/
- Published: 2012-02-19T14:51:53-05:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

Juneau, AK – Susan Murray, Oceana’s Senior Director, Pacific, issued the following
statement in response to the North Slope Repsol well blowout:

“Yesterday, Spain’s big oil company Repsol drilled into a methane pocket that resulted
in an exploration drilling blowout on Alaska’s Arctic shores.  This is yet another
wake-up call for the Obama Administration that oil and gas activities are risky 
business.  We are incredibly lucky this is not an oil well blowout offshore in the
Arctic Ocean; because the nation is not prepared to deal with an accident like that
in offshore Arctic waters where the ability to respond is limited at best, and impossible
at worst. As of right now 42,000 gallons of drilling lubricant or “mud” have spilled
and an unknown amount of methane has escaped.

“This accident is only the latest of several oil and gas disasters since the _Deepwater
Horizon_ tragedy less than two years ago.  As is the case with Repsol’s blowout 
here, accidents happen for unanticipated reasons, but when it comes to oil and gas
activities the record shows it is not if an accident will happen but how soon will
the next accident happen.

“In the Arctic Ocean, responders could face icy conditions, dense fog that lasts
weeks, and hurricane-force winds in a place nearly 1000 miles from the nearest Coast
Guard facilities. There is no proven method of cleaning up an offshore oil spill
in Arctic conditions; there are not sufficient personnel or equipment in the region
capable of carrying out an effective response plan; and there are gaps in basic 
scientific information about the ocean ecosystem needed to prioritize response, 
rescue, and cleanup efforts and equipment.

“Repsol had to evacuate employees and yet had no well-control specialists on site
or even near site. Instead they had to fly in specialists from Houston to help tame
the well. The crew took more than a day to arrive because they are more than 3,500
miles away.

“Repsol wasn’t ready and they had all their permits. So, is Shell really ready? 
A paper plan is not enough; no public in-the-water spill response tests have been
conducted in the U.S. Arctic Ocean since 2000.  As shown in this footage from that
most recent test, it failed miserably:[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dL3RGwpBaI](https://web.archive.org/web/20120603234600/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dL3RGwpBaI)

“The American people want change. President Obama can learn from this onshore mistake
and protect America’s Arctic Oceana. President Obama please do not grant Shell’s
final permits to drill in America’s Arctic Ocean this summer.  It is simply a [disaster](https://greenlivingguy.com/2017/08/4-ways-to-prepare-your-family-for-a-natural-disaster/)
waiting to happen.”

**_Source: Oceana_**

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 greenlivingguy

 The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman is an independent power producer, a green living
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