Both the environmental organizations Bellona and Nature and Youth have criticised the pollution control authorities for allowing StatoilHydro to start their drillings, before the deadline for complaints on the decision has run out. Head of Bellona, Fredric Hauge, says to website Offshore.no that this decision is highly undemocratic and he demands that the Minister of the Environment, Erik Solheim, takes action to stop the drillings.
The Nucula field is situated only 46 kilometres off the coast of Finnmark, and the decision to allow petroleum searches so close to the coast has caused a lot of debate.The Pollutions Control Authorities says that the environmental dangers related to StatoilHydros drillings are very small.
Nature and Youth says on the other hand that any activity so close to the coast of Finnmark is highly dangerus. Any oil spill here would be catastrophic and could reach the shore within 34 hours. With the poor oil protection equipment in Finnmark, such oil spill would kill millions of sea birds in the area.
