Milton opposes seismic testing, offshore drilling

Milton has joined more than 100 East Coast communities formally opposed to seismic testing and offshore drilling in the mid-Atlantic.

Milton Mayor Marion Jones and council members unanimously adopted a resolution opposing testing and drilling at a Feb. 24 council meeting.

“Seismic testing would not only affect the ocean, but it would affect the Inland Bays and our fishing right here,” said Councilman Emory West, referring to the potential disruption of migratory patterns caused by seismic testing.

The resolution makes Milton the first inland town in Delaware to oppose testing, said Matt Heim of the Assateague Coastal Trust. For months, Heim has been traveling to coastal communities urging town leaders to oppose seismic testing before permits are issued.

Seismic testing is used to find potential oil and gas deposits by firing seismic air guns into the ocean floor as a geological and geophysical survey technique. Air gun blasts, which could occur every 10 seconds 24 hours a day for months or longer, are said to be louder than a jet engine.

Heim has said the disruptive air gun blasts used during seismic testing could harm marine species along Delaware's coast. It's unclear how the testing could affect millions of migrating horseshoe crabs, which have never been studied for exposure to seismic testing, he said.

Heim said there has been almost unanimous opposition in the Cape Region, with the exception of Bethany Beach and South Bethany Beach. Milton joins Dewey Beach, Fenwick Island, Lewes and Rehoboth Beach and more than 100 mid-Atlantic towns in opposing the testing.

“We're a small town, but the more voices that come out against this, the better off we're going to be,” said Milton resident Maurice McGrath, who supported the resolution at the meeting. “If we can get this stopped, it's just going to be better for everyone.”

While oil and gas drilling lease areas do not reach Delaware waters, seismic testing to locate oil and gas resources will be permitted in state waters.

Because seismic testing has never been conducted off Delaware's coast and the state has no laws governing it, state officials were limited in how they could review seismic testing activities. Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control officials reviewed impacts of testing based only on the effect on commercial and recreational fisheries, as required by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. DNREC Secretary David Small has publicly voiced his displeasure with the process and his opposition to offshore drilling, Heim said.

The federal government has proposed a five-year lease program for drilling in a planning area that stretches from the southern tip of the Delaware Bay to just south of Cape Canaveral, and from the inner edge of federal waters to more than 400 miles offshore, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management states.

Federal waters begin 5 miles offshore, but seismic testing boundaries exceed those planning areas, allowing testing to take place much closer to coastlines and within state waters. There is a 50-foot coastal buffer from the shoreline for drilling lease areas, but not for seismic testing.

The next draft for the planning areas for the 2017-2022 leasing period, as well as four potential permits, will be open for public comment in March.

“Even though it's been given the green light in the Atlantic, basically all they're saying is it's legal to conduct seismic testing. In order for a company to conduct seismic testing, they have to apply for a permit. Nobody has been given a permit yet,” he explained. Milton's resolution is expected to be submitted during the public comment period.

For more information about the bureau's oil and gas energy programs, go to www.boem.gov.