1/09 Shell Has Confidence in Brent Spar on Land Disposal

[the.greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

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Original-TO:      World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-Cc:      The Greenbase (Green2:Green2:Gnl:Main)
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                   GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
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 SHELL EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE IN FINDING ALTERNATIVE TO DUMPING  
             BRENT SPAR AT SEA IN MEETING WITH GREENPEACE
 
LONDON, 9 January, 1995 -- In a meeting today between
Greenpeace International Executive Director Thilo Bode and
Shell UK Chairman Dr Chris Fay, Shell expressed its confidence
that the company would find alternatives to dumping the
disused Brent Spar oil instillation at sea.
 
During the meeting to discuss the Brent Spar and other North
Sea oil installations and the environmental implications of
disposal options, Mr Bode requested that Shell prepare a
comprehensive plan for the decommissioning of all of its oil
installations on land.
 
Mr Bode pointed to a report by the industry association UKOOA
(UK Offshore Operators Association), "Options For Oil And Gas
Structures In The North Sea," which concludes that, on
balance, the on-land disposal and recycling of oil rigs is
preferable to sea dumping on environmental grounds.
 
Commissioned by the Aberdeen University group AURIS, the
report states that for steel jackets, the steel structures of
installations, "total removal and return to the shore for
recycling is the best option".(1)
 
"It would be absurd and environmentally unacceptable to dump
6,700 tonnes of recyclable steel such as the Brent Spar into
the sea," said Mr Bode after the meeting with Shell. "The
UKOOA report supports common sense and environmental
responsibility --  bring the oil platforms back on land, clean
them up and reuse the steel.  The dumping of such waste would
not be acceptable for old cars or ships so why make an
exception for oil platforms?"
 
The report also states that for the topside of structures
(living and working quarters)  "...returning material to the
shore for recycling and disposal would be an attractive
option. It removes potentially harmful material from the sea,
eliminates a source of debris, and derives some benefit from
the recycling of material and saving energy."(2)
 
A second report, commissioned by Greenpeace, entitled "A Case
Study Of Onshore Decommissioning Of North Sea Oil Structures,"
(3) states that over 95 percent of the Brent Spar platform
could be recycled using existing technology.  This report was
presented to Shell officials at the meeting today.
 
"Reports commissioned by both the oil industry and
environmentalists have now stated that on-shore
decommissioning of oil installations is the best environmental
option," said Mr Bode.  "Shell and other companies in the oil
industry must now take this on board and draw up an action
plan to return to land the dozens of North Sea oil
installations soon to be obsolete."
 
Mr Bode added, "Greenpeace's Brent Spar campaign was about
forcing industry to accept responsibility for the waste it
creates and was launched with Shell's own information about
the waste on board the Brent Spar. The subsequent error over
oil samples - released only in the last few days of the
campaign - had absolutely no bearing on the strength of
Greenpeace's campaign, the validity of our arguments or the
final success in preventing the dumping of the Brent Spar at
sea."
 
Contact:
Blair Palese, Greenpeace Communications: +44171-833-0600
Adam Woolfe, Greenpeace UK: +44171-359-4837
 
Notes:
 
(1) "An Assessment of the Environmental impacts of
decommissioning options for oil and gas structures in the UK
North Sea," prepared for UKOOA by Auris Environmental, pp.
10-24.
 
(2) As above, pp. 10-24.  For concrete gravity bases - of
which there are only 9 out of 150 in the UK sector - this
report recommends leaving the base "in situ". Greenpeace
believes more research should be done to investigate means of
removing concrete structures safely.
 
(3) "A Case Study of Onshore Decommissioning of North Sea Oil
Structures - the Brent Spar," commissioned by Greenpeace, by
Jay Rutovitz. Produced as evidence to the House of Lords Trade
and Industry Sub Committee on decommissioning, October 1995.

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