Lewes opposes offshore seismic testing
Attachments
Lewes Mayor and City Council has become the first Delaware municipal government to stand up against seismic testing and offshore drilling. Lewes joins nearly 90 other Atlantic coastal towns that oppose a plan to lease areas as near as 50 miles off the coast from Delaware to Florida for oil and natural gas exploration and drilling.
"Neither our workers and businesses of, nor our hundreds of thousands of recreational visitors to, the City of Lewes should have to face the threat of an oil spill or the widespread industrial development that would be necessary for developing an oil and gas industry," reads a resolution passed by Lewes council. Read the full resolution here.
In January, the Department of the Interior released a draft for its Outer Continental Shelf five-year plan for oil and natural gas exploration. Members of the Senate and House, including Rep. John Carney, have sent letters to the Department of the Interior opposing the plan.
If approved, seismic testing could begin off the coast as early as 2017.
Before offshore drilling can begin, companies must first map the ocean floor to find potential drilling locations. This requires seismic surveys, which include firing a seismic air gun into the ocean floor. Suzanne Thurman, founder of the Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute based in Lewes, said this activity could occur every 10 seconds, 24 hours per day, seven days per week for up to eight years.
The air gun can be louder than a jet engine, potentially causing harm to marine life in the area, Thurman said.
“These are species that rely on sound to survive in the world,” she said. “These animals cannot function in the world without sound.”
Rich King, founder of the website DelawareSurf-Fishing.com, said the potential impact on the fishing industry could be devastating.
“Our big concern is economic impact on fishing,” he said. “There’s 400 commercial fishermen in Delaware with an economic impact of $20 million. The recreational fishery is $118 million.”
He said he fears if seismic testing is allowed, it would kill or drive away fish and ravage Delaware's fishing economy.
Ed O'Connor, chair of the Delaware Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, said there have been documented cases of seismic surveys causing significant trauma to marine life around the world.
“There is a direct link to the harm of marine mammals,” he told council. “Scientific evidence shows it kills marine mammals, at least.”
There are no studies on horseshoe crabs, he said, but bottom-dwelling creatures, like horseshoe crabs, will not have time to evacuate the area before surveys begin, he said.
Lewes city council's resolution also notes potential impacts to marine life.
"Seismic testing is potentially devastating to our coastal area’s fish and marine life ... as the sounds emitted during testing ... could prove to be devastating to marine animals who use sound as their primary means of finding food, navigating and staying connected to the their groups and offspring," the resolution reads.
Joanne Cabry asked council to not forget about offshore drilling. Cabry is chair of the board of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, but spoke only as a concerned citizen. If drilling is allowed, she said, Atlantic coast residents will need to worry about oil spills.
“It doesn't have to be a major spill to have a financial impact on your city,” she said. “Hundreds of barrels of oil create tar balls. If they wash up on your shore on Fourth of July weekend, your tourists stay away.”
Following the permit process
By Maddy Lauria
Oil and gas drilling won't be taking place off Delaware's coast in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's upcoming lease period, but seismic testing may come very close to state waters.
Seismic testing uses air guns and other equipment to locate potential oil and gas sources below the ocean floor. Before any land is leased as part of the bureau's 2017-22 plan for the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic regions, companies must first apply for permits to conduct seismic testing.
Three of the eight companies seeking seismic testing permits expect to come close to First State waters.
This is a new process for state leaders, as seismic testing has never been conducted off Delaware's shores, said Sarah Cooksey, Delaware Coastal Programs environmental program administrator. Because seismic testing is not on the list of reviewable activities under Delaware's Coastal Zone Management Federal Consistency process, state officials had to make a case to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as to why the state had a stake in reviewing seismic-testing activities. NOAA limited state review to the effects of testing on fishing.
“We were only allowed to review its impacts to fishing,” Cooksey said. “Fishing itself, whether people could still fish – not the impact on the fish or marine mammals.”
The three companies that could impact Delaware resources during seismic testing received conditional approvals from DNREC earlier this year. Those companies still need approval from the bureau, and will be required to comply with both state and federal conditions.
While there is a 50-mile buffer on oil- and gas-drilling lease sites, seismic testing extends beyond the drilling lease areas. Two Texas-based companies that are expected to come closest to Delaware waters both plan to use air guns for seismic testing, according to their applications.
One company, Spectrum Geo Inc., said in its application that it will use mitigation techniques to reduce negative environmental impacts. Spectrum Geo Inc. President Richie Miller could not be reached by press time to outline proposed techniques.
The second company, TGS, states in its application that “minimum to no adverse effects [are] expected on the environment” during its proposed seismic testing.
“This is a steep learning curve for all of us,” Cooksey said. “I'm glad Delaware citizens are getting engaged. It's important they know what's happening off our coast.”
Only one of the eight applicants has received federal approval to pursue seismic testing in a test area that runs from Virginia's Eastern Shore to the state line dividing South Carolina and Georgia; the other seven applications are under review. According to BOEM, after data is collected from seismic testing, one lease sale is proposed in the Atlantic in 2021; the bureau's 2017-22 proposed program also includes 10 lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and three lease sales off the coast of Alaska.
