http://www.greenpeace.org/~comms/brent/may18w.html (Einblicke ins Internet, 10/1995)EU's Bjerregaard condemns UK's rig-dumping plan BRUSSELS, May 18 (Reuter) -
EU Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard condemned on Thursday Britain's plan to allow deep-sea dumping of disused oil installations, aligning herself with protestors occupying a condemned North Sea platform.
"I think the United Kingdom should not dump the Brent Spar at sea," Bjerregaard told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"We have to get away from the old idea that you can dump things at sea and they will just disappear," she said.
The Dane was referring to the Brent Spar platform, occupied since April 30 by activists from the environment group Greenpeace.
Protestors say dumping the rig with its 130-tonne cargo of toxic and radioactive sludge will set a precedent for the 400 other platforms earmarked for disposal as the North Sea oil boom fades.
Platform owner Shell UK Exploration and Production says any environmental impact from sea-dumping will be minimal and localised to a small area of sea bed around the dump site.
Shell Expro is jointly owned by Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Exxon Corp.
Bjerregaard, who oversees environmental policy-making within the EU's executive, said the installation should be towed back to land for scrapping, an option she said was backed by Belgium and Denmark among others.
She said the issue was sure to feature on the agenda of North Sea ministers when they meet on June 8 and 9 in Esbjerg, Denmark, to discuss marine pollution issues.
REUTER
Shell bids to eject Greenpeace activists LONDON, May 18 (UPI) -- Oil corporation Shell is applying (Thursday) in court to eject Greenpeace activists from the Brent Spar oil facility, 120 miles (200 km) northeast of Scotland's Shetland Islands. The environmentalists say their 2-week-old sit-in protests Shell's plan to sink the obsolete facility in the North Sea.