SHELL EXPLORATION COMMENT ANALYSIS

Plan of Cooperation Meeting – January 13, 2015 Wainwright, Alaska

Page 1 of 4

Issues Comments Shell Response Mitigation 

Measures

OSR What kind of technology do you have in case of an oil spill 

accident?

Shell has 4 different layers of prevention in 

the event of an accident. The weight of the 

drilling mud to keep the pressure in the 

hole, the blow out preventer with 

redundant sets of rams, capping stack, and 

Arctic Containment System. 

L

OSR If there was a spill, do you have the equipment to take care of a 

spill if the multiple barriers don’t work?

If we did have a spill and the multiple sets 

of rams failed on the blowout preventer, 

we would deploy the capping stack which 

can seal off the spill or route it to tankers 

on the surface. If that failed, our Arctic 

Containment System can lower a dome 

over the whole thing, which collects the oil 

and pipes it up to vessels on the surface to 

be collected.

L

OSR What about if the oil is already flowing? What technology do you 

have?

The Nanuq will respond within 60 minutes 

and will begin immediately collecting oil 

in skimmers and with boom. The Klamath 

has more equipment and more booming. 

Airplanes and helicopters will also identify 

where tracking booms need to be placed to 

track the oil. We also have barges with tug 

support that can be deployed as well.

H

OSR Would like to see residents of Wainwright trained in oil spill 

response. It shouldn’t be just outside residents. We are closer. The 

locals need to be trained.

We hold two oil spill response trainings a 

year in Barrow, Pt. Lay, Pt. Hope and 

Wainwright through AES. If they can find 

more than 6 people in the village it will be 

held in the village. If they can’t get 6 

people, then people will be brought to 

Barrow to be trained.

N/A
SHELL EXPLORATION COMMENT ANALYSIS

Plan of Cooperation Meeting – January 13, 2015 Wainwright, Alaska

Page 2 of 4

Issues Comments Shell Response Mitigation 

Measures

OSR Do you send fliers to the villagers about the oil spill response 

trainings? An audience member, employed by The Olgoonik 

Corporation, commented that they can send fliers out to their 

shareholders about these trainings. It can increase the awareness 

about the oil spill response trainings.

AES, the organization we contract with for 

the training, sends the fliers out. We will 

follow up on this. N/A

Aviation noise How often will Shell’s airplanes and helicopters fly in and around

Wainwright?

Four helicopters will be stationed in 

Barrow and will be going back and forth to 

the Burger Site. We don’t believe there 

will be a lot of flights out of Wainwright. 

If we do, then we use our subsistence 

advisors to ensure that subsistence activity

isn’t affected.

We may have search and rescue flights 

flying earlier in the year throughout the 

area though.

E

Local Hire I see a lot of people who aren’t local. It would be better if there 

were more people from Wainwright instead of outsiders. It would 

be good to hire more people from the village.

Thanked audience member for the 

comment. We use UIC-ARS for a lot of 

our OSR activities. We do have other lines 

of business with Olgoonik: the science 

programs and storage and laydown space. 

Shell is still at the starting gate of this 

program. If we succeed and develop our 

program, we may grow and can have 

further opportunities for job growth. Shell 

understands the need to hire local people.

N/A

General 

Comment

This is the time to voice our concerns. We need to plan ahead to 

reduce the risk of an oil spill. I’ve heard an Elder say that once you 

go out in the water that if it’s glassy that the current is so strong, 

don’t go into it – turn around and go back. If you do go into that 

water way, there’s no going back. It happened in Barrow, a group 

of people couldn’t go passed the strong current. They were going 

Thanked the audience member for the 

comment. 

N/A
SHELL EXPLORATION COMMENT ANALYSIS

Plan of Cooperation Meeting – January 13, 2015 Wainwright, Alaska

Page 3 of 4

Issues Comments Shell Response Mitigation 

Measures

full throttle and couldn’t move out of place. There are different 

types of currents that Shell needs to understand. In that 70 miles

deep, that’s where the strongest current is. This will affect our 

whales, may be our last time they may have krill.

OSR Can you address an oil spill in slush? Yes, the skimmers can collect oil in ice. It 

is actually easier to pull up with a brush 

mop.

N/A

Drill rigs How many oil rigs are going to be out there drilling? How about in 

other years?

Only two. We won’t add more rigs without 

telling the community first at meetings like 

this.

N/A

Collaboration 

Project with 

the Local Fire 

Department

Is Shell going to have your own fire apparatus equipment and help 

out the local fire department? There was a project in previous years 

that collaborated with our fire department.

I don’t have this answer in regards to the 

project mentioned but will look into it and 

let the community member know. N/A

OSR It takes 60 minute to start collecting oil? Within one hour, we are collecting oil. One 

of the vessels does take 60 minutes to 

arrive.

H

Training

Comment

For all those that want to work, take your training that way we can 

have more people from Wainwright out there. You just need to look 

at the job description and commit.

Thanked the audience member for the 

comment. N/A

Notes:

*Mitigation Measures are only assigned to applicable comments. 

“Not applicable” (N/A) is used to designate comments that do not require mitigation measures as a course of action. See Mitigation Measures Index definitions according to assigned letter.

Proposed Mitigation Measures

A-Communication Plan for avoiding conflicts with subsistence users.

B-Collaboration and Communication with Whaling Associations

C-Plan of Cooperation (will work to obtain a CAA)

D-Will honor Camden Bay blackout dates for Nuiqsut and Kaktovik whaling.

E-Subsistence Advisors based in Chukchi Sea Villages and Kotzebue

F-Protected Species Observers

G-Robust Marine Mammal Monitoring Protocol
SHELL EXPLORATION COMMENT ANALYSIS

Plan of Cooperation Meeting – January 13, 2015 Wainwright, Alaska

Page 4 of 4

H-OSR support vessels on standby 24/7 near drilling location

I-Real time Ice and Weather Forecasting

J-Crew change by helicopter and collaboration on routes to and from shorebase

K-zero discharge in Camden Bay of the Beaufort Sea: drilling fluids and cuttings after the 26-in casing; gray and treated black waters; bilge and ballast waters

L-enhanced blowout prevention and mitigation measures (i.e., second set of blind shear rams, redundant ROV hot stab panel, prefabricated subsea collection and containment