Arctic Oil Spill Plan Called "Too Vague"

The melting of Arctic ice is drawing energy companies to the region

Environmentalists are criticising a new international plan for dealing with oil spills in the Arctic as too vague, Reuters reports.

The document, due to be approved in May, was created by the eight-nation Arctic Council and calls for each country in the region to "maintain a national system for responding promptly and effectively to oil pollution incidents," but it does not say what specific staff or material resources they should devote to the system or define corporate liability in the case of a spill.

"The document doesn't get to grips with the risks of a spill in a meaningful way," said Ruth Davis of Greenpeace.

The environmental group added that the plan is "so vaguely written as to have very little practical value in increasing the level of preparedness."

The council, made up of the U.S., Russia, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark (including Greenland), uses the document to set up emergency contacts across the nations, rules for the cross-border transport of clean-up equipment, better monitoring, and joint training exercises.

Karsten Klepsvik, polar expert at Norway's foreign ministry until the end of 2012, said the group was unable to reach consensus on liability issues.

"Greenland suggested that we should include a system of liability in the agreement. There was no agreement on this," she said.

"We realised that it would take years and years to reach a conclusion."

With Arctic ice reaching its lowest level ever in 2012, energy companies are looking at opportunities for drilling in the region.

The grounding of Royal Dutch Shell's Kulluk drilling vessel in December drew new attention to the hazards of operating in the area, although Shell said it was not clear whether the incident would affect its plans for the Arctic.