Shell criticised for limited testing of Alaska drilling containment equipment | Business | The Gu...

Tags: prevent, testing, gulf, car, company, work, stack, greenpeace

"(...) Documents obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request suggest field testing of a containment dome took place over two hours on 25 and 26 June The dome known as a capping stack would be dropped over any stricken wellhead Two officials from the bureau of safety and environmental enforcement BSSE an arm of the US interior department were present with Shell officials at the tests in Puget Sound Alaska but there was no independent verification of the tests Shell reportedly started work yesterday on the 4 5bn 2 8bn drilling programme in the Chukchi Sea 70 miles off Alaska s north west coast It does not yet have permission to drill into oil reserves Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Peer a US group that helps federal and state employees raise the alarm on environmental protection issues said it was shocked by the single page of notes from the government agency after it filed a federal lawsuit against the BSSE asking for all documents relating to the capping tests (...)"