Legal counsel for advocacy group Oceana said that, while pressure hasn’t stopped Shell’s slow march to arctic oil, feet can be still held to the fire. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement granted permission to Shell to drill two wells in the arctic waters off the Alaskan coast. BSEE said the permits excluded drilling into oil-bearing zones because Shell lacks a critical piece of safety equipment . Shell’s efforts to drill offshore Alaska have long been the target of advocacy groups, most recently from kayak-bound activists protesting against rig deployments from the Port of Seattle. Michael LeVine, Pacific senior counsel for Oceana, said that, given Shell’s track record in Alaskan waters, a return to the regulatory and procedural drawing board may be […]