Greenpeace bears all in oil protest

Greenpeace says Cairn, a Scottish company, is risking environmental disaster by drilling 100 miles off Greenland, and has challenged the business to reveal its plans for dealing with any potential spill.

However, Cairn says its operations are approved and regulated by the Greenland government, which has strict environmental safeguards in place.

Greenpeace campaigner Paul Morrozzo said: "This cowboy oil company has consistently refused to release its Arctic oil spill response plans because it knows any oil spill in the fragile and pristine environment of the High North would be impossible to clear up.

"It is normal oil industry practice for these documents to be made public, but Cairn knows how completely inadequate its plans are, and how embarrassing it would be for it to have to face independent and expert scrutiny."

Cairn announced in June that it had begun drilling in two wells approximately 100 miles and 185 miles off Nuuk, Greenland's capital. Each drilling operation is in water more than half a mile deep.

Last month two Greenpeace activists were arrested after chaining a survival pod to the underside of one of the rigs,

The protesters believe that an oil spill in the Arctic could spell disaster in a fragile region that is home to narwhals and polar bears, as well as four million humans.

Mr Morrozzo said: "More than 50,000 people have written to Cairn bosses demanding that they come clean over their oil-spill response plan, and our volunteers braved freezing Arctic seas to board Cairn's rig and look for these secret documents.

"The rig master told (them] if they wanted the plans they should go to Cairn's HQ.

"That's why today we've come to look inside their international headquarters and we won't leave until these oil-spill papers are in the public domain."

Protester Simon Hackin said: "The polar bears have been searching through the files all morning, but nothing yet. If the plans could be given to us or published, that would be ideal."

The protest co-ordinator, who identified herself only as Vicky, said: "Scientists have proven that any oil spill would be near impossible to clean up. Cairn is a small company - there is no way it could even afford such a major operation."

At about 3pm, about 30 of the protesters were escorted from the building, while the rest remained inside. Lothian and Borders Police said a number of arrests had been made.Yesterday the oil company said in a statement: "Wherever it is active, Cairn operates in a safe and prudent manner.

"Cairn takes its responsibilities such as oil-spill contingency and response plans very seriously."

Greenpeace claimed last night that Cairn had agreed to a meeting, but the company did not confirm this.