Shell's Arctic Challenger to burn oil spills, as solution to the pollution

A vessel that is part of Shell Oil’s $5-billion drilling plans to tap the colossal oil and gas reserves in the Arctic sailed into the Port of Vancouver earlier this month, the Vancouver Observer has learned.  The arrival comes amid questions about the ship’s oil-spill-clean up tactics, as well as scientific predictions that 2014 may have been the hottest global temperature year on record.

The Arctic Challenger went into Seaspan's dry dock in Vancouver two weeks ago for systems work. The vessel represents the multinational energy corporation's hopes for demonstrating its technical know-how for cleaning up underwater Arctic oil spills.

The White House recently opened the Arctic waters for offshore drilling – but under tighter scrutiny in the wake of the disastrous BP spill in 2010 that gushed uncontrollably in the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days.  It was the worst marine oil spill in history.

Could the same disaster happen in the remote and ecologically fragile Arctic?

A 2012 executive presentation by Shell Oil’s President Marvin Odum suggests the Arctic Challenger is a key part of the company’s “cap and contain” plans to mitigate against major spills.

Shell says the ship has been approved by the U.S. Coast Guard, but a key design feature is raising eyebrows.

Ship flares off spilled oil and gas

In what the company says is an "unlikely" event of an underwater oil and gas blow out from its drilling operations, the ship would flare off the recovered hydrocarbons into the air.

"I just see that as a horribly messy process,” said Todd Guiton, who lives in nearby Bellingham Washington.

The medical professional, with some engineering training, has watched the ship’s construction in Bellingham for the past two years from his living room window.  He found out about this flaring tactic by talking to the ship’s crew.

“In my conversation with the captain, their plan is just to burn everything – the oil and the natural gas on the flare boom on the front of the barge,” said Todd Guiton last week.

“This boom has several jets that would be expressing this oil and natural gas – there’s going to be flames there so it burns off," he added.

Shell Oil confirmed its so-called "Arctic Containment System" works by lowering a submersible with a steel dome to be placed over a compromised wellhead.  The water, oil and gas is then vacuumed to the surface.

“Once on board, additional separation is done before storing and/or flaring of the hydrocarbons takes place,” wrote Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith in Washington, D.C. on Monday.

American enviro-watchdog group -- NRDC -- added that flaring is a documented method for dealing with oil spills, but not proven in Arctic waters, an Alaskan spokesperson said Tuesday.

The flare booms were tested with water (instead of oil and gas) in Bellingham's port on Aug.29.  Guiton found out and videotaped it.  He was concerned that the watery mist – meant to represent the recovered fossil fuels -- floated back on to the ship’s deck.

“It was a breezy day, and this mist blew directly back on to the Challenger.  Imagine that being flaming oil and natural gas.  I just don’t see it being very practical,” said Guiton.

Shell counters that the spraying of water is different than the spraying of burning fuels.

“The amateur video you forwarded was not meant to model the flaring of hydrocarbons. It was a systems check (using water) to confirm that valves and nozzles were in working condition,” wrote Shell’s Curtis Smith.

"Extensive engineering studies have been conducted on the use of the flare boom to confirm its functionality and safety."

"These studies take into account weather conditions in the Arctic and the effects of the heat radiated from flaring."

"One function of the flare boom is its ability to create a water curtain to absorb radiant heat and protect the crew from burning surface oil," the spokesperson added.

2014: Hottest year on record?

All this comes, as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is expected to announce on Wednesday if 2014 was the hottest global temperature year on modern record, as it was on track to be all year.

Shell is now applying to the U.S. government to resume offshore Alaskan drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, home to polar bears and belugas, and also near the shorelines of Canada’s Northwest Territories.  The polar region contains 30 per cent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas and 13 per cent of its yet-to-find oil, says Shell.

The country’s Energy Information Administration sees significant eco-risks with Arctic drilling, but also “immense” economic rewards.  One think tank estimated some $97 billion could be generated over the next 50 years from Arctic drilling, along with 30,000 jobs annually.

Enviro-critics have long slammed the Arctic incursion as bad news for efforts to slow global climate change.

“The Arctic Ocean ecosystem is one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,” said Cindy Shogan, Executive Director, Alaska Wilderness League.

“Drilling in the Arctic Ocean is risky, dirty and irresponsible and Shell should not be allowed to move forward with its risky and dangerous plans to drill there,” she said, from Washington D.C. on Tuesday.

Shell’s Arctic drill plans have encountered stormy waters in recent times.  In 2012, testing of the Arctic Challenger’s containment system failed spectacularly.

Using Freedom of Information, a Seattle journalist with KUOW News found federal enviro-safety officials writing in e-mails that the ship’s containment dome was “crushed like a beer can."

Likewise that same year, Shell’s drill rig – the Discoverer – lost its moorings, and ran aground into an Alaskan beach.  The U.S. government ordered an enviro-safety audit of the company’s Arctic drilling operations, and was harshly critical of its lack of supervision of contractors.

Shell and other companies put a halt on its Arctic drill program around that time.

Original Article
Source: vancouverobserver.com/
Author: Mychaylo Prystupa