Obama Administration Considering Extending Shell's Season, Mother Nature Not So Lenient | Chuck Clusen's Blog | Switchboard, from NRDC: "The timeframe outlined in the current conditional approval is too tight to allow for error, everything would need to go exactly right to stop uncontrolled flow before Shell’s fleet must evacuate the site for the winter. The company could be forced to abandon an uncontrolled well, leaving oil gushing under the ice for half a year or more. The devastation of a spill of this type could be unprecedented.
Extending the drilling season by over two weeks—Shell has asked for an 18 day extension—is flirting with disaster. Winter comes quickly in the Arctic. On November 1st, the sun will shine on Shell’s lease site for less than 6 hours. If the deadline is extended by 18 days, the fleet could be attempting to drill a relief well as late as November 18th, coincidentally the last day the sun will rise at Shell’s Chukchi lease area until January 23rd. "
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