Appeals court rejects challenge to Shell oil spill clean-up plans

A federal appeals court has upheld the Interior Department’s approval of a Royal Dutch Shell oil spill clean-up strategy for the company’s planned Arctic drilling operations.   

Environmental groups had sued the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) over its decision to sign off on Shell’s oil spill response plans. But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the bureau acted lawfully when it approved the proposal, Reuters reports. 

{mosads}Shell’s plans deal with drilling leases in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas granted in 2005, 2007 and 2008. Green groups said the BSEE erred when it approved the oil spill plans in 2012 by accepting Shell claims it would be able to recover at least 90 percent of the oil that could leak out during a potential spill there.

Two appeals court judges disagreed, saying the agency couldn’t reject the spill recovery plan because Shell had followed environmental laws. The decision upheld a 2013 ruling in favor of the BSEE.

A third judge dissented and said the BSEE should have ensured the company was complying with endangered species laws before approving the plan.

In April, the Obama administration gave Shell the go-ahead to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean, something the company hopes to do this summer. Green groups have slammed the decision, arguing an oil spill in the Arctic would be exceedingly difficult to clean up.