By Victoria Cavaliere
SEATTLE, May 14 (Reuters) - The first of two Royal DutchShell drilling rigs slated for Arctic oil explorationarrived in Seattle on Thursday as environmental activists gearedup for days of protests over plans to store the equipment at thecity's port.
Shell is planning to use Seattle as a base to store andmaintain the rigs and other equipment as it resumes explorationand drilling this summer in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska, where ithas not drilled since a mishap-filled 2012 season.
The decision to resume drilling, and the port's decision toallow Shell to lease space in Seattle, has been met with angerby some city leaders and environmental activists who saydrilling in the delicate Arctic ecosystem could lead to anecological disaster.
Environmental groups also contend that weather conditionsmake it impossible to safely drill in the remote Arctic, aregion that helps regulate the global climate because of itsvast layers of sea ice.
Over coming days and weeks, protesters are planning dozensof demonstrations, including in boats and kayaks, to try toprevent the rigs from leaving again. At least one citycouncilman, Mike O'Brien, said he planned to participate.
Activists constructed an approximately 20-foot-tall(6-meter) metal tripod at the entrance to Shell Oil's fueltransfer station in Seattle on Tuesday to try to block access tothe rigs.
The Puget Sound region has for decades been a hub forequipment used in energy drilling in Alaska even as someenvironmental groups and politicians have pushed for theregion's economy to move beyond oil, gas and coal and into cleanenergy.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council have urged theport to reconsider its lease to Shell, and the city's planningdepartment has ruled that the port's agreement with Shell is inviolation of its city permit.
The Port of Seattle had asked Shell to delay its plans tomove the Polar Pioneer rig to the city on Thursday while itappealed. Shipping company Foss Maritime has also appealed theruling.
A Shell spokesman said it intended to move ahead with plansto dock the rigs at the port despite the permit questions andprotests. A timeline of when Arctic exploration would resume wasnot yet known, he said.
The other rig planning to dock in Seattle, the NobleDiscoverer, was at the Port of Everett and also headed to thecity this week. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Cynthia Johnstonand Eric Beech)
