Washington (May 11, 2015) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement after the Interior Department gave conditional approval to Shell to drill in the Arctic Ocean, including the Chukchi sea.

“At a time when the oil industry is advocating for lifting the U.S. oil export ban because of increasing domestic production, it doesn’t make sense to expand oil drilling into risky areas like the Arctic Ocean or off the East Coast. I remain concerned that Shell has still not learned the lessons of their previous mistakes drilling offshore in the Arctic and could find themselves in a similar situation this year.”

In 2013, after Shell’s Kulluk drilling rig ran aground in Alaska, Senator Markey pressed Shell for answers about the incident and future plans to prevent another grounding. He also challenged Shell on whether financial concerns were main drivers in Shell’s decision on the timing of moving the rig, and later released massive safety violations found on Shell’s other Arctic drill ship.

###