Greenpeace tries to stop offshore oil exploration in Arctic waters off Russia

The Akademik Lazarev pulls a seismic device Aug. 13 as part of its exploration program in Arctic waters off Russia. (PHOTO BY WILL ROSE/GREENPEACE)

In the organization’s latest protest, Greenpeace icebreaker Arctic Sunrise wrangled Aug. 13 with a vessel doing seismic testing in the Barents Sea north of Russia to protest Russian oil giant Rosneft’s plans to drill for oil there.

As the Rosneft-contracted Akademik Lazarev began firing underwater sound cannons into the water, Greenpeace approached the vessel, demanding that it stop operations immediately.

Greenpeace activists talked to the ship captain by radio, demanding that the vessel stop.

They also questioned the crew about the details of the ship’s operations, including the environmental impacts and risks to wildlife from seismic testing.

“The vessel confirmed via radio that it is operating on behalf on Rosneft, and denied that it was doing any harm to wildlife, but their 200-decibel air cannons tell a different story. Seismic testing can damage the hearing of whales and other wildlife, and even lead to fatalities,” said Christy Ferguson of Greenpeace.

“But the ship’s captain refused to talk about this and cut off the conversation quickly.”

Seismic testing uses sound waves generated by air cannons to create detailed maps of undersea areas, to determine locations for oil or gas drilling.

In its news release, Greenpeace says this kind of activity has significant impacts on whales and other wildlife in the area.

Underwater sound level over 180-190 decibels is dangerous for marine mammals: if they are within 450 to 500 metres of the air cannons (190 dB) they will lose their hearing permanently. If they get within 150 metres of where the sound reaches 245 decibels, the animals will die, Greenpeace said.

Greenpeace said it planned to continue to track the vessel.

“Right now the Arctic is under attack from oil companies like never before. As the sea ice melts, oil companies are planning for the first time to go beyond exploration and actually start producing oil from ice-filled waters. Drilling for oil in the harsh and unpredictable Arctic environment is extremely risky. Companies have no reliable way of preventing or stopping an oil spill, or of cleaning one up after the fact,” Greenpeace said in its release.

During the Arctic Council meeting, which took place this past June in Kiruna, Sweden, Greenpeace protested offshore Arctic drilling and called for the council’s members to “agree to develop new, binding common standards to apply to offshore oil and gas drilling, including a ban on oil drilling in the Arctic, as it is not possible to intervene to prevent a spill or clean up the event of a spill.”

The fate of an application for extensive seismic testing in the waters just east of Baffin Island is now uncertain after the National Energy Board ruled the companies behind the project failed to answer questions by three communities along the coastline.

If the proponent, a group of three companies, does not supply answers to the NEB’s questions by Sept. 5, 2013, the board “will consider the application withdrawn,” the NEB said.