PRESS RELEASE: Oil spill prompts demand for moratorium on Shell's Sakhalin II project
22 September 2004
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 20, 2004
Local, national and international conservation organisations today demanded that Royal Dutch/Shell declare a moratorium on marine activities on the Sakhalin II project, following a Category 2 oil spill at Kholmsk, Sakhalin Island, on September 8, 2004.
The groups call on Shell's Chairman, Lord Oxburgh, to declare the moratorium on Sakhalin II marine operations until the oil giant implements an internationally-accepted Oil Spill Prevention and Response Plan covering all of the project's operations. [1]
On September 8, the Cristoforo Colombo, a dredge contracted by Sakhalin Energy (Royal Dutch/Shell's Sakhalin II operating company) ran aground at Kholmsk, spilling an estimated 1,300 barrels of fuel. It took nine hours for Royal Dutch/Shell's contractor for oil spill emergency response to arrive and conduct visual observations, and more than 48 hours for it to transport necessary equipment to the site. According to Russian regulations, Shell should have localised the spill with equipment within four hours.
"Royal Dutch/Shell's and Sakhalin Energy's response to the Colombo spill was a miserable failure," the groups said.
As a result, six kilometres of shoreline, including a popular public beach, were coated with toxic oil. Dozens of Kholmsk residents reported to hospitals with headaches and respiratory problems. Citizens in Kholmsk and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk launched demonstrations and Sakhalin's Environmental Prosecutor has begun a criminal investigation.
The groups demand the moratorium until Royal Dutch/Shell adopts an internationally accepted Oil Spill Prevention and Response Plan that includes recommendations from an independent international panel of experts and is approved by international finance institutions and the Sakhalin Government.
"The Colombo oil spill serves as a harbinger of a greater disaster," the groups wrote to Lord Oxburgh, continuing, "[Y]ou must use the Cristoforo Colombo spill as an opportunity to place a temporary moratorium on Sakhalin II marine activities before further damage to Sakhalin Island, this costly project, and your reputation," the groups said.
Contact:
- Dimitri Lisitsyn, Sakhalin Environment Watch, Russia: +7-4242-74-75- 18, or
- Doug Norlen, Pacific Environment, U.S.: +1-202/785-8700, #31, or
- Petr Hlobil, CEE Bankwatch Network, Prague: +420 2 748 16 571,
Notes to editors:
- The letter to Lord Oxburgh can be viewed here:
http://bankwatch.org/documents/moratorium_letter_Oxbourgh_09_04.pdf
Greig Aitken
Media coordinator
CEE Bankwatch Network
Bratislavska 31
602 00 Brno
Czech Republic
Tel: +420-545 214 431, ext 19