Despite petition with a quarter-million names, Shell drilling set to begin

A handful of protesters from Sum of Us, Greenpeace, the Ecology Action Centre and the Clean Ocean Action Committee delivered a massive, 233,000-signature petition to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) on Wednesday, opposing what they say are extremely lax safety standards around Shell's drilling program. Currently, if a subsea oil well blowout were to occur, the company would be allowed to take 12 to 13 days to contain it. Shell's original proposal suggested it could take 21 days to get a capping stack to the site.

"It looks like Shell is getting a free pass at Nova Scotia's expense," said Rosa Kouri, Canadian campaigns director for Sum of Us. "We have a multi-billion-dollar, well-regulated and fully sustainable fishery which is being put at unnecessary risk and a quarter-million people think this is totally unacceptable."

While presenting the CNSOPB with the petition, protesters wielded signs with large numbers on them representing the length of time Shell is allowed to spill oil in the water, and the number of signatures on the petition.

Shell plans to drill two exploratory wells 250 kilometres off the south shore of Nova Scotia. The first phase of the program is expected to last 10 or 11 months. For the work, Shell has contracted the Stena IceMAX, a mobile offshore drilling unit.