GREENPEACE CAMPS ON POLAR ICE TO PROTEST BP AMOCO'S NORTHSTAR PROJECT

GREENPEACE CAMPS ON POLAR ICE TO PROTEST BP AMOCO'S NORTHSTAR PROJECT

28 February 2000

Amsterdam - Eight Greenpeace protesters parachuted and snowmobiled their way onto the frozen Arctic Ocean to monitor and protest the construction of BP Amoco's Northstar project, the first offshore oil project to be built in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska's north coast. Using a DC-3 cargo plane to fly supplies out to the ice, the protesters set up Ice Camp 'Sirius' one mile from the controversial oil production facility construction site, in a bid to protect the earth's climate from the continued production and burning of fossil fuels and protest the Northstar project.

The protesters, equipped with polar survival gear and state-of-the-art communications equipment, lived in tents for 15days while waiting for the cargo plane to arrive with the two survival huts, which will be powered by wind generators.

"This is ground zero for global warming - the Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on the planet," said Dan Ritzman, Greenpeace Climate Campaigner at Ice Camp Sirius. "BP Amoco promotes itself as a green oil company that is concerned about global warming, yet continues to drill in new oil frontiers with projects such as Northstar. It's time for BP Amoco to put its money where its mouth is and shift its investments away from fossil fuels and toward climate-friendly forms of energy such as solar power," said Ritzman.

If built, BP Amoco's Northstar project would produce oil from an artificial island six miles off Alaska's north coast. Oil would be transported ashore in a pipeline buried beneath the seabed. Subsea pipelines are untested and unproven in the Arctic Ocean, an environment of solid or broken ice for more than nine months of the year, of extreme temperatures, harsh storms and months of darkness. Due to these and other factors, an oil spill would be unable to be cleaned up for over 50 per cent of the year. In a 1998 draft environmental impact study the US Army Corps of Engineers estimated the chance of a major oil spill at one in four. If the Northstar project is built, it will open the door for several other offshore drilling projects and for leases and drilling throughout the Beaufort Sea. Opening this new oil frontier will have grave consequences for the climate as well as the polar bears, whales, seals and other wildlife that call the Beaufort Sea home.

"Greenpeace is campaigning against Northstar to stop global warming at its source and to prevent irresponsible oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean," said Steve Sawyer, head of the Greenpeace Arctic Project in Anchorage, Alaska. "The science of climate change tells us that we cannot afford to burn even one-quarter of all known fossil fuel reserves without risking dangerous levels of global warming. Against this backdrop, it is irresponsible for BP Amoco to open this new fragile frontier to oil drilling and untested technologies," said Sawyer.

Ice Camp Sirius was established just weeks after Greenpeace filed a shareholder resolution calling for BP Amoco to halt the Northstar project. Greenpeace has also filed lawsuits in state and federal courts in the U.S. to halt the project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
- Ice Camp Sirius, via Melanie Duchin, Greenpeace Alaska: +1-907-227-2700
- Steve Sawyer, Greenpeace Alaska: 1-907-277-8234, or via cellphone: +1-202-258-3027
- Susan Cavanagh, Greenpeace International Press Desk: +31-6-212-96910
- Pictures available from John Novis: +31 20 5249580 or can be viewed on the Picture Desk web site :-
http://www.greenpeace.org/library/picturedesk.html
- Video avaialable from Mim Lowe: +31 20 5249543

- Due to the remote location of Ice Camp Sirius and routine winter conditions in the Arctic, deployment of the camp took place over a period of weeks. On February 12, eight Greenpeace protesters used snowmobiles to get to a site near Reindeer Island, approximately seven miles east of the planned site for Ice Camp Sirius, and 10 miles north of Prudhoe Bay. Equipped with full survival gear and telecommunications equipment, they spent 15 days living in tents while they prepared the runway and waited for the DC-3 cargo plane.

- On February 26, the DC-3 arrived with survival and telecommunications equipment. While the plane circled the airstrip, a parachutist jumped from the plane. The parachutist was necessary to help guide the DC-3 on its approach and landing on the airstrip. Once on the ground, the DC-3's cargo was offloaded in 25 minutes, and departed after a total of 60 minutes on the ice.

- It took approximately two days to shuttle the gear via snowmobile and sledge to the location of Ice Camp Sirius, seven miles to the west of the airstrip near Reindeer Island. The camp was fully operational by late evening on February 27, Alaska Standard Time.

- The camp is made up of two buildings fully equipped with state-of-the-art telecommunications gear, and will have five wind generators to provide power.