Greenpeace activists boarded the remains of the Brent Bravo production platform in protest of Shell’s plan to abandon four platform jackets and the oily waste they contain, supporting that Shell should remove the structures in line with the terms of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR).
The topsides platform for Brent Bravo has already taken away by Allseas’ Pioneering Spirit, a giant vessel designed to pick up entire topsides structures in a single lift for removal.
Yet, Shell asked the British Government to leave the jacket elements in place; The jackets contain about 640,000 cubic meters of oily water and 40,000 cubic meters of oily sediment.
In light of Shell’s proposal, Dr. Christian Bussau, Greenpeace campaigner with the mission commented
Shell’s plans are a scandal and go against international agreements to protect the environment . . . Abandoning thousands of tonnes of oil in aging concrete will sooner or later pollute the sea. We urge OSPAR governments to protect the ocean and not cave in to corporate pressure.
Dr Bussau added that leaving the jackets in the middle of the ocean is ‘a ticking bomb’ which could lead to vital environmental pollution, commenting of the decision as ‘irresponsible’.
However, despite Greenpeace’s accusations, Shell supports that removing the platforms could be worse. According to Shell’s studies, refloating the gravity based structures, which were never designed to be removed, would be “extremely difficult” and could cause them to collapse.
In early summer, Greenpeace activists had boarded on a BP drilling rig on a 12-day protest against the drilling actions which the activists commented as reckless. The protest ended, with BP responding that Greenpeace’s irresponsible actions have put people and property unnecessarily at risk.
