(Updates with police, Shell comment)
By Victoria Cavaliere
SEATTLE, June 9 (Reuters) - Six older women were detained bySeattle police on Tuesday during a protest to block access to aRoyal Dutch Shell drilling rig that activists believemay depart this week to resume fossil fuel exploration in theArctic, authorities said.
The six, members of an activist group known as the SeattleRaging Grannies, were questioned and released by police afterblocking railroad tracks near the Port of Seattle, policespokesman Patrick Michaud said.
About two dozen other protesters had left the port but wereexpected back on Wednesday, he said.
Over the past month, activists have staged frequentdemonstrations against Shell's plans to drill for oil in theArctic, including one on May 16 when hundreds of protesters inkayaks and small boats fanned out on a Seattle bay.
Environmental groups say drilling in the icy Arctic, whereweather changes rapidly, could lead to a catastrophic spill, andthat drilling would threaten the region's vast layer of sea icethat helps regulate global temperatures and which they say isalready disappearing due to global warming.
One of the groups organizing the protests, ShellNo, said onits website that the rig, the Polar Pioneer, could begin movingnorth as early as Wednesday. Shell said it had not yet set afirm departure date.
"Work continues as planned in preparation for the PolarPioneer's departure to Alaska," Shell spokesman Curtis Smithsaid in an email. "The rig and its crew will depart Puget Soundwhen the ongoing load-out is complete."
Shell has not drilled in the Arctic since a mishap-filled2012 season, when it was forced to evacuate its Kulluk drillrig, which eventually ran aground.
Activists say they want to launch boats once they learn therig is leaving the terminal. A mandatory safety zone enforced bythe U.S. Coast Guard will keep watercraft at least 100 yards (90meters) away from the rig. That zone will expand to 500 yards(460 meters) when it hits Puget Sound.
A spokesman for the Port of Seattle said work at Terminal 5,where the rig is housed, had resumed as normal on Tuesday.
A day earlier, Seattle police dismantled a large tent usedby demonstrators to organize the launch of a planned protestflotilla.
Late last month, Alaska Governor Bill Walker toured the rig,saying Shell's resumption of drilling in the Arctic will bringjobs and money to his state. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Cynthia Johnstonand Eric Walsh)
