By The Associated Press Channel 2 News AP

8:23 a.m. AKDT, June 22, 2012
SEATTLE—
The Coast Guard has declared a 500-yard safety zone to keep people away from two Arctic drill ships when they leave Seattle this summer.
   
The Coast Guard said Thursday the zone is necessary for the safety of vessels and to protect the Puget Sound environment.
   
Shell Oil has been preparing two drill ships - the Kulluk and Noble Discoverer- in Seattle to explore for oil and natural gas later this year in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska's north coast. New oil discoveries could feed the trans-Alaska pipeline.
   
Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, oppose the drilling because they fear an oil spill in ice-choked ocean waters.