Members of Congress Voice Concerns Over Proposed Seismic Airgun Blasting Off East Coast
Press Release Date: December 11, 2015
Location: Washington, D.C.
Contact:
Anna Baxter | email: abaxter@oceana.org
Anna Baxter
Today, 33 Members of Congress wrote to the Obama administration to express deep concerns about the use of seismic airguns for oil exploration off the East Coast. Led by Congressmen Mark Sanford (R-SC) and Bobby Scott (D-VA), the letter urges the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to withdraw and rewrite its environmental reviews for seismic airgun blasting, and to withhold any permits for this activity until new scientific studies have been taken into account.
In response to the letter, Claire Douglass, campaign director at Oceana, released the following statement:
“This bipartisan effort highlights the intense opposition along the East Coast to offshore oil exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. New scientific studies show that using seismic airgun blasting to find subsea oil and gas deposits off the East Coast will cause even greater harm to marine animals than previously predicted. Coastal economies depend on healthy ocean ecosystems, which is why more than 90 East Coast municipalities publically oppose offshore drilling exploration and/or development. Oceana urges the Obama administration to withdraw these deeply flawed environmental studies to allow seismic airgun blasting for oil and gas in the Atlantic.”
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