TESTING TOO RISKY TO TAKE

Virginia must push against federal efforts to use seismic blasting as a method of energy exploration

Imagine the misery of living next to a rock quarry in a place where local laws did not inhibit the company’s use of explosives or the times they could blast.

That constant, annoying presence is what some environmental protection groups fear will happen to marine life if the Atlantic Coast is opened for underwater oil and gas exploration.

The Atlantic Ocean is a virtually untapped expanse for energy companies, and the Trump administration wants to open nearly 200,000 square miles from New Jersey to Florida for companies to seek out subsea oil and gas deposits as a way of shoring up the country’s energy independence.

The first step in that process is seismic blasting, a practice that environmental activists and coastal communities — including business groups that rely on seafood and marine tourism — are decrying as potentially harmful to their ways of life.

If allowed, boats would traverse Atlantic Ocean waters for months towing two to three dozen air guns that create underwater explosions of up to 180 decibels every 10 to 15 seconds.

The echoes from those sound blasts are measured by submerged microphones used to locate subsea oil and gas deposits. Those areas of interest are charted and revisited later.

Environmental groups also have concerns that repetitive blasting taking place over extended periods by several companies would harm the marine life that relies on the Atlantic Ocean to migrate, including specific whale and dolphin species.

On Nov. 30, the National Marine Fisheries Service released Incidental Harassment Authorizations permitting five private companies to perform seismic blasting from Cape May, N.J, to Cape Canaveral, Fla.

A coalition of conservation groups filed a lawsuit in mid-December against the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Secretary of Commerce, claiming the permits would allow for activity that is harmful to marine life and violates the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s estimate says seismic testing in the Atlantic could kill or harass nearly 2.5 million dolphins. Late last year, the fisheries service asked commercial fisherman to take precautions against harming Atlantic right whales which are already endangered and especially vulnerable to seismic blasting.

Discovering gas and oil deposits below the Atlantic would add to this country’s energy independence. But the exploration process would come at too high of a cost, especially considering companies can use new technologies and practices to dig deeper to extract natural gas from previously undevelopable sites on land.

The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, which represents 950 businesses and organizations along the North Carolina coast, has also asked the federal government to reconsider the release of permits that allow for off-shore seismic testing, calling the potential impacts “catastrophic for an area that depends on its natural beauty and environment for not only tourism related industries but for our recreational and commercial fishing fleet, our boat builders and our entrepreneurs.”

The chamber notes the tourism industry along the North Carolina coast employs more than 226,000 people with a “direct tourism payroll of $6.0 billion.”

In Virginia Beach alone, tourism activity is estimated to produce $1.49 billion in direct spending to businesses each year.

We wonder whether people would enjoy our mid-Atlantic beaches each year knowing the marine life within the vast underwater expanses was being harassed because of seismic blasting.

Would we likewise have the ability to stop energy companies from continuing seismic blasting if significant numbers of disoriented or dead dolphins and whales began to wash up on shore?

In Virginia, nearly all Hampton Roads communities officially oppose offshore drilling and seismic surveys. That includes Gov. Ralph Northam and both Virginia senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates as much as 95 percent of the world’s oceans and 99 percent of the ocean floor are unexplored.

Do we really want energy companies to become the leading edge of undersea exploration?

The scientists whose life work is to study these environments must have the ability to fully vet the potential damage seismic blasting may produce before energy companies are allowed to search for resources.

At this point, the risks accompanying seismic blasting do not outweigh the rewards.

A coordinated effort of state and federal officials, environmental protection groups and business representatives must come together with partners across state lines to demand that seismic blasting continue to be prohibited along the Atlantic seaboard.

Virginia must also join the Southern Environmental Law Center — and a growing list of plaintiffs — in its lawsuit against seismic testing.

Urge Gov. Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring to oppose seismic blasting and join the SELC lawsuit against opening Atlantic water to the practice. Gov. Northam can be reached at https:// bit.ly/2FyMP5A. Mr. Herring’s contact information can be found at bit.ly/2FqoRub.