Shell U.K. Exploration & Production has hired Norway's independent inspection authority Det Norske Veritas (DNV) to conduct an inventory of waste materials aboard the Brent spar loading buoy.
This follows Shell Expro's decision to abort a plan to dump the spar deep in the Atlantic Ocean, following a protest campaign by environmental group Greenpeace (OGJ, June 26, p. 21).
The spar is moored in a fjord near Stavanger.
During the protest, Greenpeace accused Shell Expro of planning to dump more hazardous materials than disclosed in its original inventory. The company submitted the inventory to the U.K. government to secure approval to dump the spar.
"The objective of the DNV investigation is to establish the content of chemicals and other environmentally hazardous materials in the unit," DNV said.
"DNV will evaluate the methods used by Shell and Greenpeace in making its own assessment and investigate allegations of poisonous material being concreted into the structure of the Brent spar."
The inventory will cost 2 million kroner ($330,000). Results are to be published Oct. 18.
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