(Adds comment from Department of Interior last paragraph)
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - Green groups urged the U.S.Department of Interior on Tuesday to revoke the agency'sconditional approval of Royal Dutch Shell's 2015 Arctic oilexploration plan, saying it runs counter to establishedprotections for walruses.
A 2013 rule implemented by the Fish and Wildlife Service, abureau of the Interior Department, prevents energy companiesfrom exploring for oil simultaneously at wells in the ChukchiSea off Alaska that are within 15 miles (24 km) of each other.
The rule is meant to protect walrus populations that aresensitive to the noise and disruption of drilling in theirhabitat.
But Shell's exploration program for the Chukchi, which theInterior Department conditionally approved in May, calls forsimultaneous drilling, and no two of its wells in the plan aremore than 15 miles apart, said a letter to Interior SecretarySally Jewell sent on Tuesday by 10 environmental groups.
"There does not appear to be any way that the federalgovernment can allow Shell to proceed as the company hasplanned," said Michael LeVine, a lawyer for Oceana, one of thegroups that signed the letter.
Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the company continues toconsult with regulators on the matter. Shell has already spent$7 billion exploring the Arctic for reserves off Alaska, but oilproduction is not expected to begin for 10 to 15 years.
The company is hoping to return to the Arctic in July forthe first time since its mishap-plagued 2012 drilling season.But its plan has become the target of a major campaign byenvironmentalists opposed to oil and gas exploration in theArctic.
The letter - the latest move by groups to short-circuitShells' plans - asks Jewell, "to take immediate action toaddress this basic deficiency in Shell's drilling plan andpermit applications, protect the Pacific walrus, and ensureagency decisions resulting from the review of Shell's drillingproposal are defensible and lawful."
The Sierra Club and Greenpeace were among the groups thatsupported the letter sent to Jewell by Earthjustice.
The Interior Department said the Fish and Wildlife Serviceis reviewing Shell's program to "ensure compliance with allapplicable laws. Their review will ensure that measures are inplace to minimize potential disturbances to walrus and othermarine mammals." (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Edited by Bruce Wallace andChris Reese)
