N.J. bars drilling for oil in its waters

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. — On the anniversary of the largest marine oil spill in the petroleum industry, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill Friday prohibiting oil and natural gas drilling in state waters, as well as preventing infrastructure like pipelines that could support drilling in more distant federal waters.

It is one of many coastal states using state-level laws to try to thwart President Donald Trump’s proposal to allow drilling in federal waters more than 3 miles offshore along most of America’s coastline.

The Democratic governor noted the anniversary of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, warning that a similar catastrophe could happen anywhere.

“These are not theoretical, abstract potentials,” he said on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach, one of the state’s most popular summer family resorts. “They happen, and they happen with an alarming frequency.”

New Jersey, New York, California, South Carolina and Rhode Island have introduced similar bills, Washington state is weighing one, and Maryland introduced a bill putting liability on those who cause spills.

Murphy said when Trump called for the drilling plan, “the reaction from New Jersey and our sister coastal states was a quick and unequivocal ‘No!’ ”

New Jersey and other states used a simple theory to try to thwart Trump’s drilling plan: Although they have no control over federal waters beyond 3 miles from shore, they do control what happens in the 3 miles closest to the land. By banning drilling there, as well as prohibiting supporting infrastructure like pipelines or docks in state waters.