Pallone Continues Fight Against Efforts to Allow Seismic Testing in Atlantic Ocean

Press Release

Today Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ-06) and six bipartisan colleagues in the New Jersey Congressional delegation sent a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) raising serious concerns over proposed seismic testing off the coast of New Jersey. The members demanded comprehensive environmental assessments of the proposed seismic testing permits and the impact this testing could have on wildlife in the Atlantic Ocean. Representatives Frank LoBiondo (NJ-2), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-9), Albio Sires (NJ-8), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), Donald Norcross (NJ-1) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) also signed the letter.

"Seismic testing risks injuring and disturbing critically endangered species and threatening the Jersey shore, a center of recreational and economic use. Any proposal to conduct seismic surveying in the Atlantic Ocean must be reviewed with the utmost care and diligence," said Pallone. "An environmentally sound coast is critical to New Jersey's economy, and I remain concerned about efforts that could lead to oil and gas drilling off our coast"

The letter asks that BOEM and NOAA fisheries conduct site-specific Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) for pending seismic testing applications. Last month, Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) sent a letter to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries requesting a public hearing on proposed seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean that could potentially be used to open the Atlantic Ocean to oil and gas exploration. Pallone also asked that NOAA Fisheries deny the pending applications for seismic testing.

Pallone worked relentlessly to remove drilling in the Atlantic from the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.

In March 2016, the Department of the Interior announced that it had removed the Atlantic from the proposal.

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