3609 Hwy 24 (Ocean) | Newport, North Carolina 28570

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 May 13, 2003

Jan DeBlieu, Cape Hatteras Coastkeeper
252-473-1607 or 252-480-5361
hatteraskeeper@nccoast.org

Here We Go Again:
Federation Opposes Offshore Drilling

     The US Senate will soon begin debating an energy bill that contains provisions to open the NC coast and other portions of the outer continental shelf to drilling for oil and natural gas.
     Senate Bill 14, would remove a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing off North Carolina that has been in place since 1998. It would also lift the moratorium put in place for other states by President George H.W. Bush in 1990.
     The bill also contains a disturbing provision that would require the US Department of the Interior to use tens of thousands of high decibel explosive impulses to gather geologic profiles of the seabed, revealing whether they are likely sources of oil and gas. Such seismic surveys are suspected of causing fish deaths, whale strandings, and declines in commercial fishing. The provision also calls for a number of other exploration techniques that can damage sea life and ocean habitat.
     Sens. Bob Graham, D-FL, John Edwards, D-NC, and a number of other senators have introduced an amendment that would keep the moratorium in place and delete the language calling for surveys of the seabed. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-NC, hasn't sponsored the amendment but has added her signature to a letter urging her colleagues to support the amendment.
     The Senate is scheduled to begin debating the bill next week. If it passes, the bill would conflict with the House of Representatives' version of the energy bill, which leaves the moratorium on new leasing in place. Any differences would have to be worked out in conference.
     "This is not something we should have in the water off North Carolina, or anywhere else," said Jan DeBlieu, the Cape Hatteras Coastkeeper for the NC Coastal Federation. "Senators Dole and Edwards should be commended for speaking out against it."
     LegaSea, the grassroots citizens group on the Outer Banks, also opposes oil and gas drilling. The Coastal Federation and LegaSea are working together to safeguard NC waters against drilling.
     There are no active oil or gas leases off the NC coast. In the 1980s and '90s, a number of oil companies intended to drill off Hatteras Island in a volatile area of the ocean known as The Point. They met with stiff local opposition and abandoned the lease rights in 2000.
     The Senate bill also threatens the right of individual states to govern leasing and drilling activities off their coasts. One section of the bill requires the Secretary of the Interior to report on "impediments" to oil and gas development on the outer continental shelf, including the ability of states to review drilling proposals. Under current law, NC officials determine whether exploration and production activities are consistent with the state's Coastal Areas Management Act.
     "This bill is bad policy, through and through," DeBlieu said. "It leaves our ocean resources open to pillage by the oil companies, while taking only minimal steps to encourage energy conservation. People need to be speaking out against it in force."