Offshore Energy Clash Over Undersea Sound
The Obama administration would open the Atlantic Coast to offshore drilling, but only after a debate on the impact the new seismic testing could have on marine life.
Before any drills descend into the Atlantic Ocean under the Obama administration’s plan to expand offshore U.S. fuel production, there is the considerable matter of testing the waters—or rather, what lies beneath them.
The first stage of what is sure to be a contentious approval process is a debate over the environmental impact of seismic surveys that would be conducted along a coast that hasn’t been mapped for oil and gas potential in at least 25 years.
At least 11 geological and geophysical research companies have applied for federal permits to survey the Atlantic’s outer continental shelf, using high-pressure air guns to create the sound-pressure waves capable of penetrating the sea floor. Because the noise levels from air-gun seismic surveys
