Shell submits revised plan for capping Nova Scotia offshore blowouts

Shell Canada Ltd. has submitted a revised plan for capping blowouts off the Nova Scotia coast after environmentalists criticized a proposal that allowed the company up to 21 days to contain subsea blowouts, despite the U.S. requiring the same company to cap blowouts within 24 hours.

• Shell gets OKto take 21 days to cap blowouts off Nova Scotia coast
• Capping oil well blowouts within 24 hours too expensive, says Ottawa

"We challenged them on the issue," Kathleen Funke, a spokeswoman for the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, told CBC News on Monday.

Shell originally said it could take between 12 and 21 days to contain a subsea blowout in the Shelburne Basin a far cry from the 24-hour timeline given to the company by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement for plans to drill off its coast.

Environmentalists questioned why the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has signed off on the Canadian version of the plan.

Meanwhile, the final approval of Shell's plan for exploratory drilling in the Shelburne Basin is up to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board.

Funke would not disclose the details of the revised timeline, saying the board is still reviewing it.

The Shelburne Basin is about 200 kilometres southwest of the Nova Scotia coast.

Beginning this year, Shell has a four-year window to drill exploratory wells off the coast.