It Is Not A Good Idea To Drill In Arctic Waters
By Rowan Wolf
Drilling in Arctic waters is just not a good idea. It is one of the harshest and most extreme environments on the planet. Even with global warming melting the Arctic Ocean, and the possibility it will be ice free in the summer in the near future, it will remain extreme.
One could believe that ocean drilling and oil platforms are old hat and incredibly safe. After all, we hear so little about the problems with drilling platforms. Instead, we are told that the companies can safely drill six miles down under the ocean and seamlessly deliver oil to the maw of the global economy. However, according to the Rig Incident List at Oil Rig Disasters, they list 198 incidents listed from 1956-2007 (most incidents listed are after 1976) which resulted in 1078 fatalities (though there is not fatality data on a number of incidents).
There is a more current example that could serve as a case study of why Arctic Ocean drilling should be avoided. The case study is the West Atlas drilling platform in the Timor Sea off the coast of Australia. This oil platform title=”Australia fails to plug oil leak , BBC, 10/14/2009″>has been leaking for more than two months. Multiple attempts have been made to find and plug the leak; however, they have been unsuccessful. Meanwhile, oil continues to pour into the sea, and into the migration route and habitat for marine life – including endangered turtles, humpback whales and others.
There is an attempt to build a nearby “relief well” and pump sludge into the existing well to stop the leak. However, there is now a new problem. The well and rig are now on fire. The fire is the result of another attempt to stop the leak, and efforts thus far have not stopped the fire. (All workers are safe and have been evacuated from the rig.) At this point, the drilling company’s (PTTEP Australasia) plan is to continue with the “kill well.” There are no estimates of how long that will take.
Now take this incident and move it to the Arctic. Move it to what is considered one of the most sensitive environments in the world with one of the the most extreme climate environments. How long might such a leak go on in those conditions? Months? Years? Until the well ran dry? What would happen if the Arctic ecosystem was drowned in oil? I have no idea, but shudder to think of the death of the Arctic and virtually all life forms within it. Certainly that destruction would not be confined to the Arctic.
Despite the risks and sensitivity of the Arctic, the Obama administration has given “Shell a green light” for offshore drilling in the Beaufort Sea. The noise of the drilling alone could have dramatically negative effects on marine life – particularly the bowhead whale. As reported in The Guardian article:
Whale experts warn that the bowhead stocks are sensitive to noise and could be driven further off shore by the disruption of drilling. That in turn would have an impact on their chances of survival, which have already been harmed by early side-effects of global warming.
There are also fears that any drilling could lead to oil spills which would be impossible to clean up amid the Arctic’s broken sea ice.
Drilling in Arctic waters is worse than a bad idea. It is a disaster waiting to happen. In fact, even without an accident, the operations could cause irrevocable damage to already endangered sea life.
Can’t we just stop and figure out a way forward that doesn’t cause further destruction of a world on the verge of eco-collapse?
As of 11/03/09, the rig fire has reportedly been extinguished
