GREENPEACE DISCOVERS OIL SLICK AT SHELL NORTH SEA PLATFORM

PRESS RELEASE

GREENPEACE DISCOVERS OIL SLICK AT SHELL NORTH SEA PLATFORM
NORTH SEA, 19th JUNE 1996
The Greenpeace vessel , Arctic Sunrise, discovered an oil slick coming from a Shell operated platform in the North Sea yesterday afternoon, during a tour of oil and gas i nstallations which may be dumped at sea.
Greenpeace campaigner Christian Bussau, from aboard the Arctic Sunrise, said the slick was 300 metres wide and four kilometres long . It was heading on the ocean current away from the Dunlin Alpha platform operated by Shell UK, in the Dunlin field 120 miles north-east of the Shetland Islands.
The Shell operator of the platform confirmed by telephone that there had been an accident on Tuesday morning and said they had informed the British authorities about it. A Shell spokesperson told Gre enpeace that the slick involved 9.6 litres of oil and the company estimated this quantity of oil would cover an area about 1 km by 20 metres.
This week a meeting of the Oslo Paris Commission (OSPAR) in Oslo confirmed the current moratorium on the dumping of oil and gas platforms at sea, with the view to a permanent ban, expected in 1997.
It is one year since a direct action by Greenpeace and a massive public protest and boycott forced Royal Dutch Shell on June 20, 1995, to reverse its decision to dump the Brent Spar oil platform in the North East Atlantic. The Brent Spar is one of 400 oil and gas platforms to be decommissioned from the North Sea.
Following the Brent Spar campaign OSPAR, which regulates marine pollution, passed a moratorium on the dumping of platforms at sea. The moratorium was passed on June 29, 1995 by 11 votes to 2 ( Norway and the United Kingdom).
Since the Brent Spar campaign last summer Shell has announced that it will bring its Leman BK platform ashore rather than at sea. Three other platforms will now also be decommissioned on land: the North-East Frigg (Elf), the Viking A (Conoco/BP) and the Odin platform, after the Norwegian gov ernment turned down an application by Esso to dispose of the structure at sea.
Continuing on the work from the Brent Spar campaign, Greenpeace is currently conducting a tour of oil and gas platforms in the North Sea. The new ship, Arctic Sunrise, is documenting North Sea oil pl atforms whose owners have publicly stated that they want to dump their installations at sea including North West Hutton (Amoco) and Heather (Unocal).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
CHRISTIAN BUSSAU ABOARD THE ARCTIC SUNRISE ON 00-871-62-44-53510 ($10 per minute)
OR
JON WALTER AT GREENPEACE COMMUNICATIONS ON 0171-833 0600