Last Chance for a Blast-free Sea

The Atlantic Ocean may be safe from oil, but not from sound. In March, tens of thousands of ocean advocates from Florida to New York let out a collective sigh of relief and a victorious cheer as the Obama Administration listened to widespread public opposition to offshore drilling and withdrew the Mid-Atlantic from consideration. Among these voices were NJ ocean champions US Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, and US Representatives Frank Pallone and Frank LoBiondo.

However, the proposals for intensive and widespread seismic blasting to search for fossil fuel deposits deep in the seabed along the Atlantic Coast continue to move forward. Four possible seismic blasting expeditions would operate in relatively close proximity and saturate the ocean with harmful acoustic noise from Cape May, NJ, southward to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Track lines are 90,000 miles long, with blasts every 15 seconds for up to one year. This excessive noise energy disrupts critical animal behaviors, displaces fish from their traditional areas of abundance and ensures that any deposits found will be exploited in the future. COA is working with groups around the country, as well as elected officials, to put an end to the search for oil and gas in ALL coastal waters.

You can help us! Send a comment to the Obama Administration by June 20th to urge them to halt the proposed seismic surveying for oil and gas in the Atlantic and end their leasing program in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska as they did in the Atlantic. To do so, please visit regulations.gov and search for “Docket # BOEM–2016–0003” (http://www.boem.gov/Five-Year-Program-2017-2022/). Also, continue to monitor COA’s social media and website as we work on this critical issue.