Cargo Business Newswire

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Seattle mayor says port needs permit to host Shell Oil’s Arctic fleet

The Port of Seattle has to apply for a new land-use permit in order to have its Terminal 5 host Shell’s offshore Arctic oil-drilling fleet, according to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.

"After talking to the port about its plans at Terminal 5 and after reviewing the 20-year-old permit for the operation of the cargo terminal, (Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development) has found, and I concur, that the long-term moorage and maintenance of Arctic drilling equipment falls outside the current permit," Murray said at a fundraising breakfast for nonprofit Climate Solutions.

"(The department) has determined that the port’s proposed use is not a cargo terminal and therefore

the port must apply for a new permit," the mayor added. "I expect the port to obtain all required city permits before any moorage or work begins at Terminal 5 on Shell’s oil-drilling equipment."

The Port’s plans to host Royal Dutch Shell rigs and support vessels in between trips to the Arctic, under a two-year, roughly $13 million lease, have drawn strong criticism from environmental activists opposed to the drilling because of fears about oil spills and about additional fossil-fuel consumption contributing to climate change.

For more of the Seattle Times story: www.seattletimes.com