LONDON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Environmental advocacy group Greenpeace said toy company LEGO runs the risk of spoiling its reputation with its tacit ties to Shell's arctic drilling campaign.
Shell in August submitted revisions to an already-approved plan for the Chukchi Sea to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in order to keep exploration options for 2015 "viable."
Environmental groups like Greenpeace have expressed concern over drilling in arctic waters, saying an oil spill there would harm the pristine environment.
With a new line of LEGO brand toys at Shell retail centers, Greenpeace now says it's up to company's like LEGO to break away from Shell or risk damaging their reputation should an accident in the arctic occur.
"[Shell] needs to look as innocent as you when it's being judged by the powers that will determine if it can head back to the Arctic," Ellen Booth, a spokesperson for Greenpeace U.K., said in a Sunday statement. "Do you really want to be making Shell toys when its next Arctic rig runs into trouble?"
Greenpeace said Shell is building brand loyalty with the next generation of consumers, business leaders and politicians through its relationship with LEGO.
In July, LEGO said it was being used as a scapegoat for Shell's operations in the arctic.
Shell's drillship Kulluk struck ground off the Alaskan coast in 2012, and the Coast Guard blamed harsh winter conditions and the company's efforts to escape Alaskan tax laws for the incident.
