Subject: Greenpeace tries to stop oil exploration in N. Atlantic


URL: http://www2.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/health/072497
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Greenpeace takes court action against Britain
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Copyright  1997 Nando.net
Copyright  1997 Reuter Information Service

     LONDON (July 24, 1997 09:27 a.m. EDT) - Greenpeace on Thursday
accused the British government and 15 leading oil firms of
plundering the environment with oil exploration in the North
Atlantic.
     "This fight is over an ocean wilderness that is home to
whales, dolphins and a world heritage site for birds as well as
deep water coral," said Lord Melchett, executive director of the
environmental pressure group. "We also oppose further oil
exploitation on the grounds that fossil fuels are damaging the
climate," he said as Greenpeace mounted a High Court challenge to
the latest round of exploration.
     Greenpeace said the British government had acted unlawfully
by issuing licences for oil exploration whilst failing to consider
their responsibilities under international environmental
directives.
     Challenging Britain's new Labour government, 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?"
     Greenpeace thinks the government has failed to apply the
European Habitats Directive when it awarded permits in the 17th
offshore licensing round, mainly in the Rockall Trough west of the
Hebrides and north of the Shetland Islands.
     Last month, Greenpeace activists sailed inflatable boats close
to a Texaco oil exploration vessel in the north Atlantic in an
attempt to stop seismic testing.
     Activists occupied the London office of U.S. oil company
Conoco, another company awarded an Atlantic exploration licence.
     Greenpeace campaigners also seized the tiny, barren Atlantic
island of Rockall and, rejecting British claims, proclaimed a new
state of Waveland.
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