GREENPEACE vs H.M. GOVERNMENT AND 15 OIL COMPANIES IN HIGH COURT
London, 22nd July 1997
The new Government and 15 oil companies will oppose Greenpeace in the High Court on 24 July, over the exploitation of new UK oil reserves in the Atlantic Frontier development.
Greenpeace has accused the UK Government of acting unlawfully by issuing licences for oil exploration whilst failing to consider their responsibilities under EC environmental directives. The environmental group is seeking Leave for a full Judicial Review, as well as a suspension of all oil exploration activity pending the outcome of the case.
" This fight is over an ocean wilderness that is home to whales, dolphins and a world heritage site for birds as well as a deep cold water coral. We also oppose further oil exploitation on the grounds that fossil fuels are damaging the climate, " said Lord Peter Melchett, Executive Director of Greenpeace.
" This is the first major test of this Government's environment credibility. What do its fine words on the international stage mean at home?" Melchett asked. "Will it flout the law by allowing oil companies to cause seismic explosions and start oil drilling without a formal environmental assessment first?"
"Our job is to highlight environmental vandalism and try to prevent it where we can," he said. "These regulations have been required under European law since 1988, but the Tory Government failed to implement them. Now new Labour look as if they are reneging on their promise to put the environment at the heart of their policies."
The dispute centres on three key pieces of European legislation...
- The European Habitats Directive, under which Greenpeace argues the Government should have considered giving special protection status to the reef habitats/reefs prior to granting licenses to oil companies. The slow-growing coral reef is thought to support an eco system as diverse in its species as the rainforests.
- Protecting sites already designated under the Habitats and Birds Directive from external impacts derived from oil operations.
- The Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, which requires that Member States should have instituted Regulations for dealing with offshore oil and gas activities by July 1988. The Directive was drawn up to ensure that assessments are made before exploration begins - and not before the later stage of production commences. This is important because seismic testing, as well as test drilling, may have an adverse impact upon cetaceans and other marine life.
The legal challenge forms part of Greenpeace's wider campaign to stop oil exploration in the Atlantic Frontier on the grounds that unrestricted burning of fossil fuels will lead to irreversible climate change. Greenpeace believes that the UK should take a world lead by investing instead in solar power technology. A final date should be set for fossil fuel phase-out.
Campaigners from Greenpeace are still challenging the might of the oil giants, who Greenpeace claim are acting illegally in the Atlantic Frontier. Seismic testing vessels have repeatedly had to alter course and abandon operations when they have encountered Greenpeace activists swimming in the water.
People all round the globe have been signalling their support, too, for Greenpeace's continued occupation of Rockall, where activists living in a specially designed high tech solar survival capsule have been flying the flag of opposition to new oil exploration in the North Atlantic for 42 days since early June. Tied to a rock hundreds of miles out , the capsule is manned 24 hours a day by protestors seeking to protect the pristine ocean wilderness for future generations.
Notes to Correspondents:
1. For latest video coverage/stills available of direct action taken at sea by Greenpeace; media briefing notes on legal challenge/Atlantic Frontier/climate change. Contact Press Office 0171 865 8255/6/7/8.
2. Interviews with the Executive Director of Greenpeace UK, Lord Peter Melchett and key campaigners can be arranged for Thursday July 24.
3. Nigel Plemming QC will be arguing Greenpeace's case in the High Court.
4. Greenpeace argues the Government announcement on July 17 of draft regulations for the implementation of the European Environmental Impacts Assessment Directive (EIA) will not affect major oil developments on the Atlantic Frontier at Schehalion or Foinhaven and neither do they affect the programme of seismic testing which is currently going ahead in 22,000 square miles of ocean off the North West of Scotland. Greenpeace is calling for the 17th licensing round to be suspended pending a public investigation and for all oil exploration to cease in the North Atlantic. A full copy of Greenpeace's response to the Department of Trade and Industry announcement is available.
5. Oil companies, which are thought to be represented in court on July 24, are: Agip (UK) Ltd; Amerada Hess Ltd; Arco British Ltd; BG Exploration & Production Ltd; Conoco (UK) Ltd; Elf Exploration UK plc; Enterprise Oil plc; Fina Petroleum Development Ltd; Marathon Oil Uk Ltd; Mobil North Sea Ltd; Murphy Petroleum Ltd; Phillips Petroleum Company United Kingdom Ltd; Shell UK Ltd; Statoil (UK) Ltd; Texaco Ltd.
6. 1997 is the International Year of the Reef.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Greenpeace Press Office on +44 (0)171 865 8255/6/7/8