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Phones, emails deluged in protest of Shell’s oil-fleet lease

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Screen Shot 2015-06-09 at 09.26.28Phones, emails deluged in protest of Shell’s oil-fleet lease

By Lewis KambSeattle Times staff reporter: 8 June 2015

Opponents of Shell Oil’s lease of a Port of Seattle terminal to stage the company’s Arctic drilling fleet have employed a new tactic in their battle against the oil giant: deluging phone lines and email accounts of firms supporting the company’s stay in Seattle.

After the flotilla fades out, flood them with phone calls.

Opponents of Shell Oil’s lease of a Port of Seattle terminal to stage the company’s Arctic drilling fleet have employed a new tactic in their battle against the oil giant: deluging phone lines and email accounts of firms supporting the company’s stay in Seattle.

On Monday, shell.noblogs.org — a website operating to oppose Shell’s use of Elliott Bay as a base to prepare its fleet for another season of explorative drilling off Alaska’s North Slope — directed protesters to engage in an “electronic blockade” of local firms supporting the oil company.

The blog site distributed a sign-up schedule and link to phone numbers and email addresses of Shell affiliates to be targeted by protesters throughout business hours on Monday.

The aim is to “keep their phones ringing, their voice mail full and their email mounting for eight hours,” the post stated. “We make our voices an immediate concern because we are tying up the resources they use to do business.”

Businesses targeted by the protest included the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 19, Jones Stevedoring, Carlile Trucking, Incident Catering Services and Foss Maritime Company.

Paul Queary, a spokesman for Foss, said Monday the campaign amounted only to “a minor nuisance.”

Other targeted firms either declined to comment or couldn’t be reached Monday. A Shell spokesman had not returned a phone call by Monday afternoon.

Ahmed Gaya, an activist working with Shell No! Action Council, a loose network of opponents trying to stop Shell’s Arctic drilling, said in an email Monday he isn’t exactly sure who’s behind the call for an “electronic blockade.”

“(W)e use some centralized tools like the Facebook page, website, email lists etc. to promote everyone’s events,” Gaya said in an email to The Times. “It’s not a formalized coalition.”

In January, the Port of Seattle commission announced Foss Maritime would lease vacant Terminal 5 to Shell for use as a base for its Arctic drilling fleet during the winter months. Port officials have said the two-year lease would bring in $13.17 million, while Foss officials say the move has created more than 400 jobs.

The terminal has become the center for an environmental and political standoff.

Last month, after Shell moved its Polar Pioneer oil rig and other vessels to Terminal 5, opponents who’ve denounced the company’s activities as environmentally harmful flocked to the waters in kayaks and other vessels as part of a three-day “Paddle to Seattle” protest. Opponents have since vowed more action.

The blog post calling for Monday’s actions warned protesters to make contact only once to any targeted firms or employees. Repeated contact “could be considered harassment,” it stated, “and we wouldn’t want that.”

Lewis Kamb: [email protected] or (206) 464-2932. Twitter @lewiskamb

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