AmericasEnvironmentOffshore

Polar Pioneer readies as police take down anti-drilling activists’ tent

Seattle: Police in Seattle dismantled a tent that has been the focal point for organizers of anti-Shell and anti-drilling protests in the city.

Ever since the US government endorsed approval of renewed oil exploration in the Arctic, protesters have been targeting Seattle as the known staging post for Shell’s Alaska-bound drilling fleet.

Environmental activists have mounted numerous demonstrations, including the biggest one on M ay 16 when hundreds of kayaks registered a colourful rejection of the Arctic plan.

Now, as rumours swirl that the Polar Pioneer platform is ready to start moving north as early as Wednesday, police have taken down (but not yet confiscated) the 16-foot by 32-foot logistics tent which is the nerve centre of plans to launch a flotilla to obstruct the rig’s progress.

The Polar Pioneer is one of two platforms that Shell wants to bring north to the Chukchi Sea exploration area off northwest Alaska.

The police’s reason for their action was that the tent, erected in a West Seattle park, was in violation of park regulations because people were camping inside it.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
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