The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined units of Royal Dutch Shell more than $1 million over violations of the company's Clean Air Act permits related to their Arctic drilling program in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, off the North Slope of Alaska. The EPA said that based on their inspections and Shell’s excess emission reports, EPA documented numerous air … [Read more...]
US Environmental Protection Agency Finds Arctic Drilling Rig Not In Compliance
Royal Dutch Shell PLC's (RDSA, RDSB) Kulluk oil rig violated nine conditions of its air-quality permit while drilling in the waters off Alaska, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a letter issued late Thursday. The EPA's findings mark the latest setback for Shell's $5 billion Arctic drilling plans. The $292 million rig was damaged after running aground the … [Read more...]
Ship Scrapping Duo Plead Guilty to Environmental Crimes in Virginia
A Virginia ship scrapping company and two of its owners have plead guilty to various environmental crimes stemming from their activities in the ship scrapping business. According to court documents, Steven Avery, 56, of Bohannon, VA, and Billy Avery, 81, of Virginia Beach, VA, operated Sea Solutions, Inc., a VA-based ship scrapping business, and in February 2010 purchased … [Read more...]
EPA unveils Great Lakes restoration plan
By Jim Tankersley - February 22, 2010 - The Los Angeles Times Reporting from Washington - The Environmental Protection Agency on Sunday unveiled a five-year, $475-million plan to revitalize the Great Lakes, including cleaning up polluted water and beaches, restoring wetlands and fighting invasive species such as Asian carp. Federal and state officials call the Great Lakes … [Read more...]
Nautical Institute on MARPOL Prevention
We rarely reproduce press releases... but it's Sunday and not your usual release. Seaways, the Nautical Institute's monthly magazine, has a story this month on ideas to prevent oil discharges aboard ships. They point some fingers and expose some truths while, in some mariner's opinions, over analyzing others. Here's the summary; The NI has identified a number of potential … [Read more...]
E.P.A. Petitioned to Limit Ship Emissions
Photo by Seth White The New York Times has the story on a California petition to limit ship emissions: The California attorney general and a coalition of environmental groups have called for federal regulation to curb heat-trapping emissions from the worldwide fleet of about 90,000 oceangoing ships, including container ships, tankers and cruise ships. The regulations, … [Read more...]