Congress calls for probe into grounded Shell oil rig
Friday 04 January 2013
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EmailOil giant Shell faced calls from Congress today for an official inquiry into the events surrounding the grounding of a drilling vessel in Alaska.
The 45-member US House Sustainable Energy and Environmental Coalition demanded that the coast guard and Interior Department launch a probe over the New Year's Eve grounding of the Kulluk oil rig.
It remains stricken in the treacherous seas and is said to be carrying 136,000 gallons of diesel fuel and about 10,000 gallons of lubricants and other oils.
Salvage crews who finally managed to board the rig on Thursday said that it remained upright and there was no sign yet of a fuel leak, according to Shell incident commander Sean Churchfield.
But the coalition said: "This is the latest in a series of alarming blunders, including the near-grounding of another of Shell's Arctic drilling rigs, the 47-year-old Noble Discoverer, in Dutch Harbour and the failure of its blowout containment dome, the Arctic Challenger, in lake-like conditions."
It demanded a thorough investigation into these "serious incidents."
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