2 Amish children critically injured, their parents injured, in truck vs. buggy collision north of Nappanee, Indiana

Two children, a 2-year-old and a 7-month-old, were airlifted to a hospital in Fort Wayne.

Two officers with the Nappanee Police Department shown on scene of an accident involving a truck and buggy Wednesday, July 22, 2015, on S.R. 19 near C.R. 150 in Nappanee. (Sarah Welliver/The Elkhart Truth) 

 

Amanda Mitchell

Posted at 4:58 p.m. 

 

Four people were injured when a truck hit a buggy traveling north on S.R. 19 just north of Nappanee.

The Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department and emergency crews responded to the crash at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22.

Two children and two adults in the buggy suffered injuries. The children, a 2-year-old and a 7-month-old, were airlifted by MedFlight to a Fort Wayne hospital with severe head traumas, according to police. The adults were taken to a local hospital.

The area was shut down for several hours for investigation due to serious injuries, according to video on the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page.

The driver of the truck was not injured.

The horse was killed in the crash.

Flash fire ignites after worker lights cigarette at construction site in Harris County, Texas

Author: Nakia Cooper, Sr. Web Editor

Published On: Jul 22 2015

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - 

  Three workers were injured Wednesday morning when a flash fire sparked when one of them lit a cigarette at a construction site in northwest Harris County, authorities said.

It happened around 9 a.m. at an apartment complex under construction in the 17800 block of Mound Rd and Fry Road.

According to authorities, the construction workers were in an area heavy with gasoline fumes when one decided to smoke a cigarette.

“Three male construction workers were inside a metal storage container that was used for storing tools when one lit a cigarette inside which resulted in a flash fire from the gasoline vapors,” said Lt. Scott Schoonover, Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office.

The workers were transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital in the Texas Medical Center.  Their conditions were not known.

The Harris County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating.

OSHA reviews procedures at the B.K. Tire Inc. tire shop in Frederick, Colorado after fatal accident

By John BearStaff Writer

Posted:   July 22, 2015

Marshall

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reviewing procedures at a Frederick tire shop following the death of an employee on July 15.

Herb Gibson, area director for the OSHA Denver Area Office, said his agency came on site at B.K. Tire Inc., 3775 Puritan Way, shortly after the death of 21-year-old Eric Hayden Marshall.

Gibson said the inspection could take two months to complete, because OSHA employees want to do a thorough investigation.

He said OSHA has not had any prior inspection activity at the business.

Police investigating the incident say that Marshall had been airing up a semitrailer tire when a failure occurred and he was struck in the head by the tire and rim.

He was pronounced dead at a Denver hospital shortly after the incident.

Gibson said OSHA investigates any fatality at a business, and employers are required to report any hospitalizations or amputations that occur.


///--------------///

Dacono man dies in accident at Frederick tire shop

By John BearStaff Writer

Posted:   07/21/2015 07:31:10 PM MDT | Updated:   a day ago

Eric Hayden Marshall (Courtesy photo)

A 21-year-old Dacono man died last week after what an official called an "industrial accident" at the Frederick tire store where he worked.

Eric Hayden Marshall was pronounced dead July 15 at Denver Health Medical Center after being struck by a tire and wheel as he inflated the tire at B.K. Tire Inc., 3775 Puritan Way, the Weld County Coroner's Office said in an email Tuesday.

A Frederick police report said Marshall had been inflating a semitrailer tire when a failure occurred and knocked him back 15 feet. An investigator also found pieces of a broken air chuck next to the tire and wheel.

The tire, which was used, appeared to officers to have been damaged prior to the incident based on "blemishes" found by police, although an investigator noted that some scuff marks probably came from the tire popping off the wheel.

A representative of B.K. Tire declined to comment Tuesday but, according to the report, the store owner told police that the blemishes on the tire must have come from the tire blowing off the wheel as it was being inflated.

The tire had become partially dislodged from the wheel, the report said.
An officer responded to the tire store shortly before 5 p.m. and found paramedics tending to Marshall — who had been struck in the head — on the floor of the service area, the report said.

Marshall was airlifted to Denver Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly before 6:30 p.m., according to the report.

Frederick Police Chief Gary Barbour said Marshall's death was "purely an industrial accident," and the investigation has been turned over to the coroner and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

OSHA did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Eric's brother, Dean Marshall, of Dacono, said his family is "doing all right" and has been receiving a lot of help and support from family and friends.

Dean said his brother liked to hang out with friends, ride dirt bikes and motorcycles and work on an old Chevy Nova that he owned.

"Whenever you needed him, he'd be there," Dean Marshall said. "He always wanted to help anyone he could." 

1 construction worker died when he fell off a roof 25 feet to his death at a construction site at the Mercedes plant in Vance, Alabama

 July 22, 2015

Vance, Alabama

A construction worker died when he fell off a roof at a construction site at the Mercedes plant in Vance, police said Wednesday afternoon. 

Captain Gary Hood, the commander of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit, said officers were called to the plant shortly after 1 o'clock Wednesday afternoon.

Hood said it appears the man was working on a metal roof for the Hazmat building under construction at the plant. He fell 25 feet, hit a concrete slab and died on the scene. 

Hood said the death appears to be accidental, and the man's identity is being withheld until his family is notified of his passing. 

The homicide unit investigates all unnatural deaths in the Tuscaloosa area, and their presence does not imply foul play was involved.

Worker electrocuted to death at the Waikoloa Beach Resort in Hawaii

Posted: July 22, 2015

WAIKOLOA, HAWAII (HawaiiNewsNow) - 

A 34-year-old man died Wednesday as the result of an industrial accident at a Waikoloa resort.

South Kohala officers responding to an 8:44 a.m. call learned that a subcontractor had been doing renovations at the resort on the 69-400 block of Waikoloa Beach Drive when he suffered a fatal electric shock.

The man was taken to North Hawaii Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:40 a.m.

He has been identified as Aaron Barrett of Honokaa.

An autopsy has been ordered to determine the exact cause of death.

A cargo truck transporting Nalco chemicals overturned Monday morning in LaPlace, LA leading to nearly 12 hours of cleanup

Chemicals spilled in LaPlace

Published 12:11 am Wednesday, July 22, 2015


LAPLACE, LA

A cargo truck transporting Nalco chemicals in square, metal containers overturned Monday morning in LaPlace, leading to nearly 12 hours of cleanup at one of the town’s busiest intersections. State Police said the driver of the 18-wheeler was cited with careless operation of a motor vehicle.

Trooper Melissa Matey of Louisiana State Police said an 18-wheeler trying to make a left turn from Airline Highway onto U.S. 51 in LaPlace shortly after 9 a.m. took the curve too fast, rolling on its side.

Matey said the driver was unhurt, and no injuries or damages to other vehicles were reported. The driver was cited for careless operation.

Sgt. Dane Clement of the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office said deputies were on scene from 9:15 a.m. to 8:41 p.m. helping secure the road before traffic returned to normal.

Jobe Boucvalt, director of public safety for St. John Parish, said the truck contained a non-hazardous chemical used in Nalco’s food and water treatment process. The chemical was contained in metal containers and started to leak out slowly after impact.

The Louisiana Department of Transportation responded and helped dike the area, Boucvalt said, to keep the product from getting into the parish drainage system.

Boucvalt said a cleanup company was called in to vacuum the chemical on the ground, which expanded during a Monday rainstorm.

Clean-up crew members also spread absorbent on the road.

“That way, they could absorb it, pick it up, vacuum it up and scoop it up into a waste truck to get it off site,” Boucvalt said. “All these provisions were made to ensure the product didn’t get into the drainage system and didn’t get into the wetlands.

“The product needed to be completely picked up and absorbed before we opened that road. We didn’t want somebody to come right behind there, have a slick road and have somebody get in a wreck.” - See more at: http://www.lobservateur.com/

Environmental groups sue U.S. EPA over a lack of regulations for chemicals released by industrial facilities.

Wed, 07/22/2015 - 4:52pm

Andy Szal, Digital Reporter

A trio of environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over a lack of regulations for chemicals released by industrial facilities.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform and People Concerned About Chemical Safety filed suit in New York federal court on Tuesday.
The filing alleged that the EPA has yet to issue regulations for the discharge of industrial chemicals despite a congressional mandate to do so in 1972. The groups cited data from the U.S. Coast Guard that showed 18,764 industrial spills between 2005 and 2014; 1,294 of those incidents ultimately contaminated waterways.

"For more than four decades, EPA has failed to comply with a legal requirement under the Clean Water Act to issue regulations that would protect the public from hazardous substances spills from industrial facilities," the NRDC's Erik Olson said in a statement.

The groups asked the court to require the EPA to implement new regulations. The agency did not offer comment on the pending litigation

Destroyer USS The Sullivans Damaged After Missile Explodes After Launch, No Injuries Reported

The resulting fire on USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) following the explosion of a Raytheon SM-2 Block IIIA guided missile. US Navy Photo obtained by USNI News

By: Sam LaGrone

July 22, 2015 3:34 PM • Updated: July 22, 2015 8:44 PM

This post has been updated with additional information from NAVSEA.
A Navy guided missile destroyer was damaged after a missile exploded shortly after launch during an exercise off the U.S. Atlantic coast on Saturday, Navy officials have confirmed to USNI News.


“On July 18 at approximately 9 a.m. (EDT) a Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) test missile exploded after suffering a malfunction as it was fired from the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) during a planned missile exercise off the coast of Virginia,” read a statement from Naval Sea Systems Command provided to USNI News.

There were no reported injuries and though the ship suffered a small fire on its port side “from missile debris” the destroyer was able to return to Naval Station Norfolk, Va. unassisted, NAVSEA said.
“It is too early to determine what, if any, effect this will have on the ship’s schedule,” read the statement.

A Raytheon SM-2 Block IIIA guided missile explodes over USS The Sullivans during a training exercise on July 18, 2015. US Navy Photo obtained by USNI News

The missile, believed to be an older Raytheon Standard Missile 2 Block IIIA, exploded shortly after takeoff and showered the ship with debris sparking the fire on the ship’s port side, according to pictures of the incident obtained by USNI News. The photographs show ignited debris shower the ship and the surrounding ocean. The explosion appears to have occurred slightly lower than the mast of The Sullivans.

The warhead on the missile was unarmed, NAVSEA told USNI News.
Naval Sea Systems Command’s program executive office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) is now investigating the cause of the malfunctioning missile, NAVSEA officials told USNI News.

According to pictures of the explosion obtained by USNI News, a fire broke out on the port side of The Sullivans shortly after the missile launched.
The Sullivans was performing a missile exercise along with the guided missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) which was not damaged during the incident, USNI News understands.

A Raytheon SM-2 Block IIIA guided missile explodes over USS The Sullivans during a training exercise on July 18, 2015. US Navy Photo obtained by USNI News

The SM-2 Block IIIA, first fielded in 1991, was developed to not only handle traditional air threats like fighters but was modified to interdict sea skimming targets like cruise missiles.

While the Navy didn’t comment on why the missile failed, the photos point to a problem with the rocket engines that drove the SM-2.

Largely for safety reasons, the Navy almost exclusively uses solid rocket fuel for its missiles and incidents involving failures of the engines have largely non-existent.

Several experts contacted by USNI News could not recall a similar incident with any other SM-2 missiles but all recalled a solid rocket failure from more than four decades ago.

In 1969, the solid rocket motor of a MK-32 Zuni rocket was overheated and misfired from a F-4 Phantom onboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) that sparked a fire on the flight deck resulting in the death of 27 personnel.

The following is the complete July 22, 2015 statement from the Naval Sea Systems Command on the July 18 incident.

On July 18 at approximately 9 a.m. (EDT) a Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) test missile exploded after suffering a malfunction as it was fired from the guided-missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG 68) during a planned missile exercise off the coast of Virginia. There were no injuries and only minor damage to the port side of the ship resulting from missile debris. The ship returned to Naval Station Norfolk for assessment. An investigation into the malfunction has been ordered and is being conducted by the Navy’s Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems, which is part of Naval Sea Systems Command. It is too early to determine what, if any, effect this will have on the ship’s schedule.

Gas Industry Strategy to be Implemented in the 4th Quarter: Stealing the Marcellus Shale Gas from Under the Feet of Pennsylvanian's and Sending it to the Floridians

Gas Glut Heading South

Published in Oil Industry News on Wednesday, 22 July 2015

A glut of cheap natural gas trapped in the U.S. Northeast will be heading south by the end of the year, radically changing the price differences between the regions.

Pipeline expansions by Williams Cos., Kinder Morgan Inc. and Spectra Energy Corp. will carry shale gas from the Marcellus reservoir to southern states as early as the fourth quarter. That’ll narrow the premium for gas in the Southeast to as little as 30 cents per million British thermal units from more than a dollar versus the Northeast, Genscape Inc. and Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. said July 20.

New pipelines are closing the divide between the winners and losers of America’s shale revolution as long-awaited supplies from tight-rock formations move to southern states and other regions. Without a Marcellus of its own, the Southeast, including Florida, where demand is booming, has missed out on the cheap fuel that has come with increased output.

“These projects will definitely reduce the spread between the Northeast and other regions,” Tony Franjie, senior natural gas analyst for Genscape in Sugar Land, Texas, said July 20. “Everyone but those near the shale plays has kind of missed out on the boom. It’s just crazy what’s happened in the Northeast.”

Spot gas in Florida rose 2.8% on the Intercontinental Exchange to $2.94 per million British thermal units on Tuesday, while Marcellus supplies at the Leidy hub slumped to $1.2615.

Price Difference

The difference between the two has averaged $1.48 this year and will shrink to about 30 cents as pipelines come online over the next three years, Franjie said. Tudor Pickering analyst Jeff Schmidt similarly forecast between 20 to 30 cents.
Natural gas futures lost 0.1% to $2.879 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:05 p.m. London time on Wednesday.

Gas output in the Marcellus has jumped more than 14-fold since January 2007, reaching a record 16.5 billion cubic ft a day in June, U.S. EIA data show. Some of that will be shipped overseas in the form of liquefied natural gas, with average daily exports from the U.S. reaching 9.6 billion cubic ft by 2025, according to IHS CERA.

An expansion of Williams’s 10,200-mi Transcontinental Gas Pipeline system on the East Coast may enter service in December. Other proposals totaling as much as 7.5 billion cubic ft a day of capacity are scheduled to come online in 2016 and 2017. One billion cubic feet of gas is enough to heat about 10,000 U.S. homes for a year.

Shrinking Discount

The new capacity will allow so much gas to leave the Marcellus that the discount for supplies at the Leidy hub will shrink by as much as 50 cents versus gas at the U.S. benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana, said Charles Blanchard, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst in New York. The spread was $1.62 on July 21.

Projects capable of carrying as much as 2.1 billion cubic ft a day, or about 17% of Southeast demand, are scheduled to begin service by the end of the year. Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline system will boost deliveries beginning in November. Spectra’s Ohio Pipeline Energy Network will start shipping to the South and Midwest in the fourth quarter.

Some of that shale gas will flow to Florida, where power plant demand for the fuel hit a record for April, up 13% from a year earlier, based on the latest EIA data. The state is home to six of the 20 fastest-growing U.S. metropolitan areas. Gas flows to the Southeast have more than doubled since 2007, according to LCI Energy Insight in El Paso, Texas.

Disney Benefits

The Reedy Creek Improvement District, which supplies power to Walt Disney World in central Florida, is already benefiting because of Northeast shale gas. The district, which has a gas-fired cogeneration plant and operates its own electric grid, is connected to Kinder Morgan’s Florida Gas Transmission pipeline system.

Reedy Creek customers “have seen lower electric energy supply costs as a result of shale gas supply,” Ann Blakeslee, the district’s deputy administrator, said by e-mail July 17. Southern Co., which has 4.3 million customers in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi, also buys gas from suppliers “active in the Marcellus region,” spokesman Jack Bonnikson said by e-mail.

The shipments underscore how quickly the Marcellus shale formation -- spread across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio -- has dominated the gas market. It has become America’s biggest producer in less than a decade and is now spreading its wealth across the country.

The pipelines coming online over the next three years will mark an “opening of the floodgates” to the U.S. Southeast, Schmidt said. “It’s a little bit of the best of both worlds. The producers should see some relief and consumers should see some relief in the heaviest demand season.”
Source: www.bloomberg.com

U.S. Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA), Ted Poe (R-TX) and Jim Himes (D-CT), members of the Congressional Victim’s Rights Caucus, have introduced bipartisan legislation to increase the safety of cruise ship passengers.

Cruise Ship Safety Bill Tabled in U.S.

By MarEx 2015-07-22 19:26:04 

U.S. Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA), Ted Poe (R-TX) and Jim Himes (D-CT), members of the Congressional Victim’s Rights Caucus, have introduced bipartisan legislation to increase the safety of cruise ship passengers. 

The Cruise Passenger Protection Act (CPPA) would build on the passenger safety measures put in place by the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, which was signed into law in 2010, say the group in a statement published on Wednesday. It is intended to clarify and strengthen the crime reporting requirements and the video surveillance requirements and to improve medical standards. 

“The Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act was signed into law by President Obama in 2010, and was a critical first step in putting protections into place for the thousands of Americans who unknowingly put themselves at risk when they go on a cruise,” said Matsui. 

“The Cruise Passenger Protection Act, which I am pleased to introduce today with my colleagues Representatives Ted Poe and Jim Himes, will continue to build upon the security and safety measures aboard our cruise ships and ensure that consumers have access to accurate information and victims are given the support and resources they deserve. I am grateful to the survivors and the victims’ families, who by sharing their stories, have brought national attention and Congressional action to this important consumer safety issue.”

“This is a personal issue for me because it has profoundly affected my district and Connecticut,” said Himes. “In 2005, George Smith IV of Greenwich went missing while on his honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean Sea. Since George’s disappearance, his family has been fighting tirelessly to improve safety on cruise ships and to protect cruise ship passengers.”

Specifically, the CPPA would:
•    Ensure a cruise vessel owner notifies the FBI within four hours of an alleged incident.
•    Ensure that if an alleged incident occurs while the vessel is still in a U.S. port, the FBI must be notified before that vessel leaves the port.
•    Require vessel owners to also report an alleged offense to the U.S. Consulate in the next port of call, if the alleged offense is by or against a U.S. national.
•    Clarify that vessels must have video surveillance equipment in all passenger common areas, and other areas, where there is no expectation of privacy.
•    Allow individuals access to video surveillance records for civil action purposes.
•    Mandate that all video records are kept for 30 days after completion of the voyage.
•    Direct the Coast Guard to promulgate final standards within one year detailing requirements for the retention of video surveillance records.
•    Transfer authority for maintaining the internet website of alleged crimes on cruise ships from the Coast Guard to the Department of Transportation.
•    Require that the website breakout the crimes that are reported against minors and alleged “man overboard” incidents.
•    Direct the Department of Transportation to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of having an individual on board each passenger vessel to provide victim support services
•    Require integration of technology that can both capture images and detect when a passenger has fallen overboard.
•    Ensure medical standards that would require a qualified physician and sufficient medical staff to be present and available for passengers, crew member basic life support training, accessible automated defibrillators, and that the safety briefing includes important emergency medical and safety information.
•    Ensure that should a U.S. passenger die aboard a vessel his or her next of kin could request the vessel to return the deceased back to the United States.
Similar legislation authored by Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey has been introduced in the Senate.

Cruise ship on fire. Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas fire occurred in a mechanical space and has been contained and extinguished. 1 Crew member suffered 1st degree burns

There was anxiety in the Trelawny capital Falmouth this morning as a Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas caught fire. The police were quick on the scene and scores of people rushed to see.

22 Jul 2015

A fire broke out earlier this morning on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas and was subsequently contained and extinguished.

The Jamaica Gleaner posted a photo of Freedom of the Seas near Falmouth, Jamaica with black smoke coming from the ship.

11:07am UPDATE:Royal Caribbean has issued a statement that the fire occurred in a mechanical space and has been contained and extinguished. All systems are functioning.

11:30am UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has issued a statement regarding the fire on Freedom of the Seas:

On July 22, 2015, Freedom of the Seas experience a fire in a mechanical space as the ship was pulling into Falmouth, Jamaica. The ship's fire suppression system was immediately activated, which contained and extinguished the fire. In an abundance of caution, the Captain mustered all guests at their assembly stations. The ship is currently alongside in Falmouth and all systems are functioning.

Freedom of the Seas is currently on a seven-night sailing that departed Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday, July 19, and includes port calls to Labadee, Haiti; Falmouth, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Mexico.

11:42am UPDATE: Royal Caribbean reports Freedom of the Seas is docked in Falmouth, Jamaica as scheduled and all systems functioning.

11:52am UPDATE: Royal Caribbean reports all guests have been accounted for and no injuries reported.

12:10pm UPDATE: Royal Caribbean reports all crew members have been accounted for, with just one crew member treated for a first-degree burn.

12:29pm UPDATE: The Jamaica Gleaner has a video of smoke coming from Freedom of the Seas.

3:05pm UPDATE: Royal Caribbean announced Freedom of the Seas will continue with her regularly scheduled itinerary for the current sailing.

Shell Not Allowed to Drill into Oil-Bearing Zones at this Time. BSEE Approves Limited Drilling Activities in Arctic Waters Under Rigorous Safety Requirements

U.S. says Shell is not yet allowed to drill in Arctic oil zone. 
Shell’s capping stack is staged on the vessel M/V Fennica, which is currently en route to Portland, Oregon, for repairs.

WASHINGTON, DC

The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday granted Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) two final permits to explore for crude in the Arctic this summer, but said the company cannot drill into the oil zone until required emergency equipment arrives in the region. 

The department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) conditionally granted Shell permits for exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, in a season which sea ice limits from July until October.

But Shell must have emergency equipment to contain a potential blown-out well deployable within 24 hours before drilling into the oil zone, the office said. Shell discovered weeks ago that the Fennica icebreaker that holds the required equipment, called a capping stack, had a three-foot (1-meter) gash in it.

"Without the required well control system in place, Shell will not be allowed to drill into oil-bearing zones," BSEE Director Brian Salemo said.

Shell last week sent the Fennica, which it is leasing, to Portland, Oregon, for repairs. Fixing the gash and sending it back could take weeks more.

Shell spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh said the Fennica's "stay in Portland will be determined by the time it takes to make a safe, permanent repair." It is likely the icebreaker will return to the Chukchi before the preliminary drilling reaches the oil zone, expected sometime in August.

"Once we have determined the area is clear of sea ice, support vessels are in place, and the Polar Pioneer (rig) is safely anchored over the well site, drilling will begin," op de Weegh said.

Shell has spent about $7 billion on Arctic exploration for before producing any oil or gas. If it finds the region to be rich in economically recoverable oil, production would not begin for at least a decade.

Environmentalists have criticized Shell's drilling plans in the Arctic, which is home to sensitive populations of whales, walrus and polar bears.

//--------------//

BSEE Approves Limited Drilling Activities in Arctic Waters Under Rigorous Safety Requirements

JULY 22, 2015

Shell Not Allowed to Drill into Oil-Bearing Zones at this Time. 
Shell’s capping stack is staged on the vessel M/V Fennica, which is currently en route to Portland, Oregon, for repairs.

WASHINGTON, DC

After extensive review and under a robust array of safety requirements, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Brian Salerno today announced that Shell has received conditional approval of two Applications for Permits to Drill (APD) to conduct limited exploratory drilling activities in the Chukchi Sea offshore Alaska. 

Specifically, the APDs limit Shell to drilling only the top sections of wells and prohibit Shell from drilling into oil-bearing zones.

Shell currently is not permitted to drill into oil-bearing zones because, to do so, BSEE requires that a capping stack be on hand and deployable within 24 hours. 

A capping stack is a critical piece of emergency response equipment designed to shut in a well in the unlikely event of a loss of well control. 

Shell’s capping stack is staged on the vessel M/V Fennica, which is currently en route to Portland, Oregon, for repairs. If and when the M/V Fennica is capable of being deployed in the Chukchi Sea and Shell is able to satisfy the capping stack requirement, the company may submit an Application for Permit to Modify the APDs and request to have this restriction reconsidered.

“Without question, activities conducted offshore Alaska must be held to the highest safety, environmental protection, and emergency response standards,” said Salerno. “Without the required well control system in place, Shell will not be allowed to drill into oil-bearing zones. As Shell conducts exploratory activities, we will be monitoring their work around the clock to ensure the utmost safety and environmental stewardship.” 

In addition to restricting Shell’s ability to work in oil-bearing zones, the APDs also define limitations related to marine mammal protection consistent with requirements established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 

Consistent with regulatory requirements, a USFWS Letter of Authorization (LOA) issued on June 30 requires Shell to maintain a minimum spacing of 15 miles between active drill rigs during exploration activities to avoid significant effects on walruses in the region. Under the limited permits granted today, Shell may proceed with drilling the top sections of two wells at the Burger Prospect, Burger J and V as described in the company’s Exploration Plan (EP), which are located less than 15 miles apart. 

As such, Shell is prohibited from conducting simultaneous drilling activity at these wells. Specifically, Shell must plug and abandon the top section of the first well before proceeding with any drilling activity at the second well site.

Under the LOA, Shell is also required to have trained wildlife observers on all drilling units and support vessels to minimize impacts to protected species. Shell must stay within explicitly outlined vessel operating speeds and report daily regarding all vessel transits.

The APDs were approved only after careful review of the adequacy of Shell’s ice management plans in the absence of the M/V Fennica as well as the consistency of the plans with protections in place for marine mammals. 

In addition to redundancy provided by other ice management support vessels, Shell will employ aerial reconnaissance over flights, satellite imagery and other measures to monitor ice floes to fulfill the operational goals of the ice management plan in terms of early detection and site safety. 

The use of these enhanced technologies will allow Shell to meet its operational requirements for ice management, while conforming to the Hanna Shoal Walrus Use Area restrictions identified by the USFWS.

In addition to defining the specific limitations described above, BSEE’s review of the APDs also included thorough analysis of information submitted by Shell – including well casing design, equipment design, testing procedures, safety protocol, third party certifications of key equipment and rig information – for technical adequacy, safety, and environmental compliance. Shell was required to address any issues and inadequacies identified by BSEE before the APDs were approved.

To ensure compliance with this and other conditions of the APDs, BSEE safety inspectors will be present on the drilling units Noble Discoverer and Transocean Polar Pioneer 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide continuous oversight and monitoring of all approved activities. 

The inspectors are authorized to take immediate action to ensure compliance and safety, including cessation of all drilling activities, if necessary. BSEE experts have been engaged in thorough inspections of both drilling units and Shell’s response equipment.

The Burger Prospect is located in about 140 feet of water, 70 miles northwest of the village of Wainwright.

BSEE’s close oversight of drilling operations in the Chukchi Sea this year is consistent with its continuing efforts over the past five years to upgrade safety standards to improve the safety of offshore oil and gas development. 

 In addition, building on the lessons learned from Shell’s 2012 drilling operations in the offshore Arctic and incorporating the recommendations of a Departmental review of those activities, BOEM on May 11, 2015, provided conditional approval of Shell’s Exploration Plan that incorporated the safety requirements set forth in Shell’s Exploration Plan and established numerous additional stringent safety requirements that must be met before Shell can drill into oil-bearing zones, including:

• All phases of an offshore Arctic program – preparations, drilling, maritime and emergency response operations – must be integrated and subject to strong operator management and government oversight, as detailed in Shell’s Integrated Operations Plan;
• A shortened drilling season to allow time for open-water emergency response and relief rig operations late in the drilling season before projected ice encroachment;
• Capping stack must be pre-staged and available for use within 24 hours;
• A tested subsea containment system must be deployable within eight days;
• The capability to drill a same season relief well;
• A robust suite of measures to avoid and minimize adverse impacts to marine mammals and their habitat, impacts to Native subsistence activities, and other environmental impacts; and
• Drilling units and their supporting vessels must depart the Chukchi Sea at the conclusion of each exploration drilling season.

The Department has also published proposed regulations to ensure that future exploratory drilling activities on the U.S. Arctic Outer Continental Shelf are done safely and responsibly, subject to strong and proven operational standards and Shell’s Chukchi Sea operations are being held to many of standards in the proposed regulations.