NJ Spotlight published the following article on 7/21/2014. To read the full article, click here.
Obama Administration Announces Seismic Testing Off Jersey Coast
Tom Johnson | July 21, 2014The Obama administration’s decision to allow seismic testing off the Jersey coast and other areas to evaluate the potential for gas and oil exploration is opposed by environmentalists, the state Department of Environmental Protection, and Democratic lawmakers in Congress.
The latest announcement came on Friday, a day typically used to go public with decisions likely to engender opposition. It is aimed at updating the 40-year-old data about offshore energy resources along the mid- and south Atlantic coast — from Delaware Bay to just south of Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Previously, the federal government also approved another seismic-testing program off Barnegat Bay to be conducted sometime this summer, an action the state DEP tried to block in court but failed to do so.
Foes oppose the seismic testing saying it could open the Atlantic Ocean to future oil and gas development. In addition, they argue that seismic testing could imperil marine mammal populations as well as important commercial fisheries.
Seismic testing involves using air guns on ships that release intense blasts of compressed air — almost as loud as explosives — into the water for weeks and months at a time, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
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