Officials: Seismic surveys still a possibility
Eight companies with pending permits filed through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) have their eyes on the coasts of Delaware down to Florida.
“That could be anything from oil and gas to sand deposit, to mineral deposits, to ship wrecks.” Says John Filostrat, a public affairs officer for BOEM’s Gulf of Mexico region.
According to Filostrat, the companies that filed the permits could also be seeking areas that might be good for renewable energy structures.
These permits are known as “Geological and Geophysical” permits (“G&G”) which allows a company to conduct seismic surveys. The goal is to search what’s underneath the ocean floor, which according to Filostrat has not been done in the Atlantic for the past 30 years.
“Some of these companies will use air-guns…some will not. They’ll use an airplane that shoots electro-magnetic waves and collect information that way.” He says. “But the majority of them will use airguns.”
Airguns are a big concern for Assateague Coastal Trust. The organization’s outreach and communications coordinator Matt Heim tells 47ABC, airguns are only used for oil and gas exploration.
According to Heim, airguns emit one of the loudest man-made sounds on Earth approaching 250 decibels under water.
“Fish, invertebrates, anything that could get out of the way…will get out of the way, so fisheries could be potentially impacted.” He says, “That has us really concerned.”
He says an air-gun underwater could be seven times louder than a jet engine at take-off.
47 ABC brought this concern to BOEM on Tuesday.
According to Filostrat, there will be mitigations in place if any of the permits are approved. One mitigation includes placing limits on when air guns can be used to reduce potential environmental impact; however, Heim argues that in itself is already a red flag.
“It’s a free admission that could anything that could get away from these guns is going to try to get away from these guns.” He says.
According to BOEM, the eight permits are currently under review by the National Marine Fisheries Service. They are expected to give BOEM their input, which will make the ultimate decision.
A formal timeline has not been established yet.
