Earlier Thursday, the Shell oil icebreaker Fennica retreated when activists dangling from the St. Johns Bridge over the Willamette River refused to leave and to let the vessel pass. The bridge has been opened to road and water traffic, and protesters are letting all other vessels pass under the bridge.
Advertisement
Drilling foes say Shell’s performance in 2012, the last time it sailed north, is evidence of what can go wrong.
“There is no Plan B, just as there is no Planet B; we have no intention of moving until President Obama rescinds the permit for Shell to drill in the Arctic”, said Daphne Wysham of the Center for Sustainable Economy. “Right now, it’s definitely kind of a holding pattern”.
Environmentalists claimed a small victory over the oil industry on Thursday, when protesters prevented an icebreaker from leaving an Oregon harbor.
The St. Johns Bridge afforded protesters an advantageous place to take a stand. Built in 1931, it is a little more than 200 feet above the river.
On Thursday, a judge in Alaska ruled that Greenpeace will be fined $2,500 per hour if protests blocking the Shell ship continue.
The company wants Greenpeace fined $250,000 a day “until the blockage is lifted”.
Onlookers sympathetic to the protests, including a young woman playing a piano, gathered in a nearby park and occasionally cheered in support.
“That was not a Coast Guard decision”.
Authorities said the protesters were the ones acting dangerously. In May, Gleason granted Shell an injunction which prohibits Greenpeace from obstructing its Arctic drilling operation.
13 protesters used ropes to dangle from the bridge while more than a dozen others paddled below in kayaks.
An activist watches while hanging from the St. Johns bridge as the… The bridge remained open to cars.
“It’s pretty cool”, the 26-year-old said. Portland’s protest took cues from Seattle.
“We have told them not to touch them”. It is unclear if any arrests have been made. It was reopened shortly after the icebreaker reversed course.
Police and rescue officials spoke at a press conference after the protesters were removed. “This is not a simple trespass on somebody’s lawn”, said an Oregon Department of Transportation spokesperson. Lives are at stake here. Pete Simpson. “For all the agencies involved today, it was a unique and complex event”.
Earlier this month, Shell crew on the Fennica icebreaker found a 39-inch (1 meter) gash in the hull, possibly caused by an uncharted shoal, and sent it to Portland for repairs.
There was no word on the Fennica’s departure schedule.
“They need to be off the ropes”, she said. Activists in the Northwest have staged multiple protests to oppose the company’s efforts.
The activists say the risk of an oil spill is too great and that the cleanup after a potential spill would be too hard.
Shell spokeswoman Megan Baldino welcomed the contempt ruling.
“Our number one priority is safety”, said Sgt.
Advertisement
Shell is not allowed to start drilling without it and the drilling season ends in October, when sea ice forms. That was one hell of wake up call and very exciting morning.
