Activists protest the Shell Oil Company’s drilling rig Polar Pioneer which is parked at Terminal 5 at the Port of Seattle, Wash., May 16, 2015. Hundreds of activists in kayaks and small boats fanned out on a Seattle bay on Saturday to protest plans by Royal Dutch Shell to resume oil exploration in the Arctic and keep two of its drilling rigs stored in the city’s port.
Last week, the Seattle Department of Planning and Development inspectors visited the Port and determined that Terminal 5, where the rig above is stored, is not permitted for oil equipment maintenance, which Shell has intended to do on the rig. Without proper permits, Shell could be fined $150 a day for 10 days for violations, and $500 a day after that. The company has spent a reported $6 billion on oil exploration in the Arctic. Shell plans to build pipelines under the ocean and on Alaska’s North Slope, along with infrastructure such as roads and airstrips.
This article appears in 2015-05-22.