Greenpeace butts heads with Greenland

• Tweet

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 6 (UPI) -- Greenpeace denied accusations it was running a campaign of misinformation against Greenland after two activists were arrested for blocking an oil rig.

Greenpeace said that one exploratory drilling campaign in Greenland's waters discharges more harmful pollutants than all drilling in Norway and Denmark combined.

Claims from Greenland's Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Ove Karl Berthelsen that Greenpeace is running a misinformation campaign are "clearly false," Greenpeace said in a statement.

The group claims that Greenland's drilling programs aren't in line with standards for security and environmental protection. It also accused Greenland of keeping its dealings with Cairn Energy secret.

Cairn said its four-well campaign for 2011 targets various structures in Greenland that have a mean prospective resource potential of 3.2 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company said it plans to invest around $600 million during the drilling campaign.

The company last week sued Greenpeace after two activists were pulled off an oil rig in the arctic waters off the coast of Greenland.

Activists claim the rush to explore potential new oil and gas reserves exposed by melting arctic sea ice could create major safety and environmental problems.