As www.arctictruth.org went live this morning, the environmental campaign group made a direct appeal to oil industry employees who may have access to inside information, particularly on operational safety, poor practices and potential breaches of environmental regulations.
This latest initiative in Greenpeace's campaign to protect the Arctic from creeping industrialisation comes at a time of heightened concern over the safety of drilling operations in the region. Over the last year, Shell has lurched from one safety blunder to another — its oil spill containment was “crushed like a beer can” during tests; its barge failed to meet safety standards; one of its rigs ran aground in Alaska while the other had a fire in its engine, and both are now under federal, criminal investigation.
“Shell’s recent experience in the Arctic has been a shambles from start to finish. If it hadn’t been for such close public and media scrutiny, very little of the truth about the company’s appalling safety practises would ever have come to light. That is why we are looking for information relating to oil drilling in the far north, which would usually be kept under wraps. The public needs to know about the incredible risks these companies are taking each and every day they drill in the fragile Arctic,” said Ben Ayliffe, head of Arctic oil at Greenpeace International.
Posters advertising the new website are appearing today in the streets surrounding the London offices of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell — one of the biggest oil companies leading the Arctic resource rush. Flyers are also being handed out to employees outside the company's headquarters in the UK and the Netherlands, whilst Greenpeace is also launching an online charm offensive to reach Shell's staff through the professional networking site LinkedIn.
Arctic Truth offers the opportunity to submit information securely and in confidence. Greenpeace International will treat all information with absolute respect and use it to challenge irresponsible practices in the Arctic, whilst ensuring that our sources are protected.
“The Arctic is the most remote and technically challenging drilling environment imaginable and so far the industry has proven that it’s simply not up to the challenge. But without close public scrutiny, the full extent of Shell’s recklessness and lax attitude towards even basic safety standards would never have come to light,” said Ayliffe. “The human, environmental and economic impacts of an accident in the polar north would be catastrophic, and we hope this new website will reveal the truth about the gamble oil companies like Shell are willing to take.”
Greenpeace has a long history of documenting environmental abuses by corporations and regularly receives information from industry insiders. This includes a concerned former whaler tipping the organisation off about wrongdoing in Japan's 'scientific' whaling programme and a disillusioned former employee of a waste recycling site in England, who highlighted that much of the waste was being dumped in Africa rather than being recycled.
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Stefano Gelmini, Greenpeace press officer, t. 0207 865 8296 m. 07506 512 442
Jessica Wilson, Greenpeace International Arctic campaign, +44 7896 893118
