Washington, DC — The key system for preventing a repeat of the massive Gulf of Mexico blowout in the sensitive waters of the Arctic underwent only partial and cursory testing with no independent analysis of the results, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which obtained the federal testing data. As a result, federal overseers are again completely relying upon industry assurances of safety as Royal Dutch Shell prepares to begin drilling this week in the remote Chukchi Sea.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all “records pertaining to results of Shell oil company’s testing of its well-head capping stack that would be used in response to a well-head blowout in its Arctic drilling program,” the Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE is an arm of the Interior Department, formerly within the Minerals Management Service) could produce only one document – a one-page set of notes. This slim production belied the agency’s claim in press statements that it had conducted “comprehensive” testing to meet “rigorous new standards.”
The field-testing took place over less than two hours in Puget Sound on June 25th and 26th and involved only two BSEE officials and Shell. The first day, they lowered the capping stack to a depth of 200 feet, but did not try to attach it to a simulated wellhead and blowout preventer (BOP), as would be necessary in a real-world blowout.” Read full article at Peer.org