Seattle Mayor: Port Needs New Permit for Arctic Oil Fleet

Source: Associated Press

Seattle Mayor: Port Needs New Permit for Arctic Oil Fleet

SEATTLE — May 4, 2015, 3:02 PM ET

The Port of Seattle can't host Royal Dutch Shell's offshore Arctic oil-drilling fleet unless it gets a new land-use permit, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said Monday.

Shell has been planning to base its fleet — including a drill rig and two tug boats — at the port's Terminal 5 for six months each year, when they're not being used in the Arctic. Environmentalists have already sued over the plan, saying the port broke state law in February when it signed a two-year lease with Foss Maritime, whose client is Shell.

At a breakfast for a clean-energy group, Murray said city planners reviewed the use of Terminal 5 as a base for the drilling fleet and found that it would violate the port's land-use permit, which allows a cargo terminal on the site.

The city "has determined that the Port's proposed use is not a cargo terminal and therefore the Port must apply for a new permit," The Seattle Times quoted the mayor as saying. "I expect the Port to obtain all required city permits before any moorage or work begins at Terminal 5 on Shell's oil and drilling equipment."

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/seattle-mayor-port-permit-arctic-oil-fleet-30795165