Posted on 08/28/2009 10:50:03 PM PDT by pissant
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A ruling Thursday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has cleared the way for Shell Oil to resume its exploration and development in the Beaufort Sea.
The court's ruling says the Bush administration was correct in not demanding a new environmental impact assessment for the company's drilling leases.
The suit filed by the North Slope Borough and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission alleged that the Minerals Management Service was supposed to have included additional environmental work in its studies before a lease sale took place in 2007.
The court rejected those claims.
The decision allows Shell Oil to continue exploration and development of off-shore oil prospects in the Beaufort, but it does not affect Shell's leases in the Chukchi Sea, which are tied up with a separate lawsuit by environmental groups and the village of Point Hope.
Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith said the company hoped to start exploratory drilling next year with a somewhat smaller operation than originally planned.
"We're hopful that we can drill in 2010," Smith said. "Our 2010 plan of exploration was crafted as a direct result of feedback from North Slope stakeholders that we were moving too fast, that it was too much and too soon, and the new plan reflects that."
"It's one year, it's one rig, "It's half the number of wells we previously planned to drill."
While the ruling does remove an obstacle, there remains some work to be done, Smith said.
"The MMS is still reviewing our plan of exploration and we still have some major permits that need to be achieved," he said. "It's a small victory, but there's a long way to go."
(Excerpt) Read more at ktuu.com ...
Shhhhh, (i believe in not letting anyone know about good things happening, it might jinx future good rulings by the 9th circus....)
Good point! Mum’s the word!
Were they drunk?
Maybe they smelled the tar and were figured out what the feathers were for.
Shell Oil..... The Netherlands .....what am I not seeing...
I guess the lib koolaid is starting to taste bad??
don’t get too excited
some watermellon group or another will file suit once again to stop the drilling... count on it.
Has the 9th Circuit seen the light?
Wow, got light headed there for a minute, thought I was going to pass out! The Ninth Circuit? Must not have been the full court!
Don’t worry. Some Tsar somewhere in O’s administration will issue an edict prohibiting it. For the Polar Bears dontcha know.
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