Enviro groups blast proposed seismic testing off Atlantic coast

offshore seismic testing

Jacksonville is the only Florida city selected by ocean scientists up and down the Eastern Seaboard to raise the alarm about seismic testing.

“We’ve tried to pick one coastal city in each state since there is enormous concern about this in coastal communities,” said Michael Jasny, director of Natural Resource Defense Council’s Marine Mammal Protection Project.

An upcoming open house on the city’s Southside is part of a larger push by ocean scientists worldwide to pressure President Barack Obama to stop planned oil and gas exploration off the Atlantic Coast.

The seismic blasts that it requires would have “significant, long-lasting and widespread impacts on the reproduction and survival of threatened whales and commercial fish populations,” according to an NRDC news release.

As if to support their concern, on Wednesday the administrator overseeing a BP fund to compensate people and businesses claiming they were harmed by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill said more than $5 billion has been paid out.

The coastal community meetings in Jacksonville and other locales will feature information stations and experts from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. People attending will be able to provide handwritten or electronic comments on-site.

“People are rightly concerned about the dangers of offshore oil spills, but seismic blasting is likely to have a terrible impact on Atlantic sea life before the first well is even drilled,” Jasny said.

He cites a letter sent by to the president by 75 scientists  from Cornell, Duke, the New England Aquarium, Stanford, the University of North Carolina and other U.S. and international institutions. In it, they write that the seismic blasts have “an enormous environmental footprint.” One example of the potential harm: airgun noise is loud enough to mask whale calls over thousands of miles.

Because whales depend on sound waves to communicate, feed, mate and travel, the blasting can disrupt the reproduction and feeding of blue whales and other endangered whales “over vast ocean areas,” the letter says. It expresses special concern for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, of which only 500 remain.

The blasts also “could have potentially massive impacts on fish populations,” according to the letter.

Seismic surveys are used by oil companies to find oil and gas deposits below the ocean floor.

Nine applications for seismic blasting have already been filed, covering most of the Atlantic Ocean continental shelf from Delaware to Florida, along with deeper waters farther out to sea.

The pushback against the testing has increased since the Obama administration’s announcement that offshore oil and gas drilling will be allowed in the region for the first time in more than 30 years.

Opposition to offshore drilling has mounted in Florida. More than a dozen governments along the state’s east coast have passed resolutions in opposition to geologic exploration and offshore drilling.

On the other hand, energy advocates are upset about Florida’s overall absence from the federal plan to begin conducting offshore oil and natural gas exploration.

Which begs the question: Why do an open house in Jacksonville?

“Oil spills don’t respect boundaries,” Jasny said. “Even if there is no offshore drilling off Florida’s Coast, the Deepwater Horizon disaster showed us how seriously coastlines can be damaged when the current moves the oil onto beaches in multiple states.”

Melissa Ross

In addition to her work writing for Florida Politics, Melissa Ross also hosts and produces WJCT’s First Coast Connect, the Jacksonville NPR/PBS station’s flagship local call-in public affairs radio program. The show has won four national awards from Public Radio News Directors Inc. (PRNDI). First Coast Connect was also recognized in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2014 as Best Local Radio Show by Folio Weekly’s “Best Of Jax” Readers Poll and Melissa has also been recognized as Folio Weekly’s Best Local Radio Personality. As executive producer of The 904: Shadow on the Sunshine State, Melissa and WJCT received an Emmy in the “Documentary” category at the 2011 Suncoast Emmy Awards. The 904 examined Jacksonville’s status as Florida’s murder capital. During her years in broadcast television, Melissa picked up three additional Emmys for news and feature reporting. Melissa came to WJCT in 2009 with 20 years of experience in broadcasting, including stints in Cincinnati, Chicago, Orlando and Jacksonville. Married with two children, Melissa is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism/Communications. She can be reached at [email protected].



#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, William March, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Jesse Scheckner, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704