Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




ICE WORLD
Norway creates 'safety zone' at contested Arctic drill site
by Staff Writers
Oslo (AFP) May 30, 2014


Norway said Friday it had created a "safety zone" around the Arctic drilling site where Greenpeace is trying to prevent oil explorations.

The zone, which stretches for 500 metres (1,640 feet) around the site, has been created in order to force the departure of the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, which is currently there.

The environmental group is trying to prevent Statoil from operating the northernmost well ever to be drilled in Norway.

"The vessels that are not involved in the oil activities of the operator do not have access to this area," petroleum and energy ministry spokesman Haakon Smith-Isaksen said.

But Greenpeace questioned the legality of the zone arguing that it should have been created with a 30-day notice period.

Greenpeace activist Truls Gulowsen told AFP that those on the ship "intend to stay" at least until June 28, the day a 30-day notice period would expire.

"We don't see any reason to move the Esperanza, which has the same right to be on this spot as an oil rig. We even got here first, which according to international law, allows us to stay," he said.

Greenpeace argues that the drilling project in the Hoop area of the Barents Sea is too close to the sea ice and to Bear Island 175 kilometres (109 miles) away, which is home to rare birds and, sometimes, polar bears.

A group of 15 Greenpeace activists boarded the Statoil rig earlier this week and tried to stop the drilling.

The last seven who remained on the ship were removed by Norwegian police on Thursday.

Also on Friday, the Norwegian ministry of climate and environment rejected a Greenpeace appeal asking the government to protect Bear Island and ban drilling in the area.

"We are ready to start the drilling operations as soon as everything will be in place," Statoil spokesman Morten Eek said.

phy/efb/ph/ld/arp

STATOIL

TRANSOCEAN

.


Related Links
Beyond the Ice Age






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








ICE WORLD
Melting Arctic opens new passages for invasive species
Washington DC (SPX) May 29, 2014
For the first time in roughly 2 million years, melting Arctic sea ice is connecting the north Pacific and north Atlantic oceans. The newly opened passages leave both coasts and Arctic waters vulnerable to a large wave of invasive species, biologists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center assert in a commentary published May 28 in Nature Climate Change. Two new shipping routes h ... read more


ICE WORLD
Italy navy picks up 3,000 boat migrants in 24 hours

MH370 search on right track: Australian transport chief

Students suffer in Philippine typhoon zone as schools open

Japan starts building underground ice wall at Fukushima

ICE WORLD
Microsoft allies with Salesforce.com in 'cloud' push; Acer launches software 'cloud' service

New Method of Wormlike Motion Lets Gels Wiggle through Water

Scientists unveil first method for controlling the growth of metal crystals

TUM researchers demonstrate: Brain controlled flight is possible

ICE WORLD
Britain's urban rivers cleanest in 20 years

Rolling old river is indeed changing

Cousteau grandson eyes undersea record, bliss in Florida

Modern Ocean Acidification Is Outpacing Ancient Upheaval

ICE WORLD
Solving the puzzle of ice age climates

Domestication of Dogs May Explain Mammoth Kill Sites

Norway creates 'safety zone' at contested Arctic drill site

Melting Arctic opens new passages for invasive species

ICE WORLD
France's unloved tipples hope to match cognac's Asia boom

Chinese wines struggle to uncork overseas sales

Drop in global malnutrition depends on ag productivity, climate change

Satellites improving lives in rural Africa

ICE WORLD
Modest quake rattles Los Angeles

Girly names make for deadliest hurricanes: study

Shallow 5.9 magnitude earthquake hits SW China: USGS

Strong quake strikes off Mexico: US agency

ICE WORLD
In Cameroon, Boko Haram turn tourist hotspot into a ghost town

Malawi's president seeks 'new friends' in China, Russia

High-level UN meeting in Kenya on despite security fears

China to send peacekeeping battalion to S.Sudan: UN

ICE WORLD
Humans traded muscle for smarts as they evolved

Journey of Discovery Starts toward Understanding and Treating Networks of the Brain

Intertwined evolution of human brain and brawn

Virtual dam on after-hours emails tackles burnout




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.