Tag Archives: BOEM
BOEM: Offshore wind farms impact ‘small’ on fishing
The development of offshore wind farms in the US Atlantic will have a minimal impact on commercial fishing, according to a new report from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The BOEM report – ‘Socio-Economic Impact of Outer Continental Shelf Wind Energy Development on Fisheries in the US Atlantic – has been produced in conjunction with the National Marine Fisheries Service to better understand fishing activity in areas of potential offshore wind development. The only impact will be on permitted vessels using pots and gillnets in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts, which could result in losses of up to $517,000, it found. However, the impacts are not distributed evenly with 20 permits fishing out of Rhode Island ports of Narragansett and Newport and Massachusetts ports of New Bedford and Fairhaven affected the most. link 11:53
Legal Fight in New York Offshore Wind Farm Case Continues on Merits; Request for Preliminary Injunction Denied
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia decided late Wednesday not to grant a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit brought by a host of fishing communities, associations and businesses led by scallop industry trade group the Fisheries Survival Fund against the impending leasing of the New York Wind Energy Area to Statoil Wind of Norway. The suit alleges the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) leasing process did not adequately consider the impact of wind power development in the waters off Long Island, New York on the region’s fishermen. The fishing industry asked that the court temporarily halt BOEM from proceeding with the final ratification of a lease on the area, which was preliminarily awarded to Statoil, Norway’s state oil company, for $42.5 million. “Getting a preliminary injunction granted is difficult, given the high standards that the court applies,” said Mayor Kirk Larson of Barnegat Light, N.J., one of the plaintiffs in the case. “But our case will continue, and we are confident that we will succeed on the merits.” Continue reading the article here 17:55
Fishing Industry Fights N.Y. Offshore Wind Area In Court
Lawyers representing a host of fishing communities, associations and businesses – led by scallop industry trade group the Fisheries Survival Fund – argued in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., yesterday against an offshore wind lease sale off the coast of Long Island, N.Y. A ruling is expected in the coming days, according to a press release from the Fisheries Survival Fund. The plaintiffs are seeking a preliminary injunction against the wind farm lease that the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) preliminarily awarded to Statoil for $42.5 million at an auction in December. They argued that the site of the project is in the middle of important fishing grounds, particularly for the scallop and squid fisheries. They also claimed that allowing the “unlawful” lease sale to go through would cause “irreparable harm to commercial fishermen.” Read the story here 07:31
Feds to auction 122,000 acres in North Carolina for wind energy
“Today’s announcement demonstrates how our collaborative efforts with Federal, state and local partners over the past eight years have built a foundation to harness the enormous potential of offshore wind energy,” said Secretary Jewell. “The lease sale underscores the growing market demand for renewable energy and strong industry interest in meeting that demand.” The Kitty Hawk lease sale is the latest effort in the Obama Administration’s renewable energy program at the U.S. Department of the Interior, which recently marked the operational launch of the nation’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island, and the lease sale for over 79,000 acres offshore New York. To date, BOEM has held six competitive lease sales, which have generated over $58 million in high bids for more than one million acres in federal waters. Read the rest here 09:05
South Atlantic Region Offshore oil surveys to start as seismic testing opposition grows
Nearly a half million commercial fishing families have joined the opposition to seismic testing for oil and natural gas in the Atlantic Ocean, according to a South Carolina-based business chamber. Meanwhile, a first, non-seismic survey is set to start. The families, numbering more than 400,000, are part of a coastal residents and business movement that has coalesced into the tens of thousands in South Carolina alone. More than 100 Atlantic coastal communities, thousands of businesses and more than 1,000 elected officials also have called on President Barack Obama to stop the testing, according to South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce and Oceana, an environmental advocate. Meanwhile the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management continues to process permit applications from seven probe applicants, including six that want to search in waters off South Carolina. “BOEM is currently in the process of reviewing those permits. Before the permits can be issued, careful environmental analysis is done to ensure the safety of the marine ecosystem,” spokeswoman Caryl Fagot said. Read the story here 09:26
BOEM releases draft plan for Lower Cook Inlet oil leasing
Residents of Anchor Point, Homer and Seldovia could see drilling rigs off their coasts in the future if the federal Department of the Interior gives it the green light. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, has issued a draft environmental impact statement for oil and gas exploratory leases in Lower Cook Inlet. The proposed leasing area stretches from approximately Ninilchik to just north of Augustine Island, not including Kachemak Bay. The state oversees oil and gas leases on lands within 3 nautical miles of shore, and the federal government has jurisdiction on lands past that. There are currently no rigs in Alaska in federal waters, said John Callahan, a spokesman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Read the rest here 12:30
East Coast Fishermen voice objections over plan for wind farm off New York coast
A long-stalled plan to build a forest of power-producing windmills off the coast of New York may finally be gathering momentum, and that is sparking concern among commercial fishermen who fear the giant turbines will ruin an area rich with scallops and other sea life. Federal officials announced earlier this month that they would auction off the rights to build the wind power farm on a 127-square-mile wedge of the Atlantic Ocean. The tip of the wedge begins about 11 miles south of Long Island’s popular Jones Beach and spreads out across an area, sandwiched between major shipping lanes, where trawlers harvest at least $3.3 million worth of sea scallops each year, as well as smaller amounts of mackerel, squid and other species, according to a study commissioned by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. “There’s got to be a better place,” said Eric Hansen, a scallop fisherman based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Read the rest here 08:39
Obama Administration Approves Resumption of California Offshore Fracking
Claiming that fracking poses “no significant impact” to the environment, Obama administration officials on May 27 finalized their plans to allow oil companies to resume offshore fracking and acidizing in California’s Santa Barbara Channel. The announcement from the two agencies responsible for oil drilling, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), ended a court-ordered settlement placing a moratorium on offshore fracking and acidizing for oil in the fish and wildlife-rich federal waters off California. The two agencies reported they have completed a comprehensive environmental analysis evaluating the potential impacts from the use of “well stimulation treatments” – acidizing and fracking operations — on the 23 oil and gas platforms currently in operation on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore California. Dan Bacher, Read the rest here 08:13
Aging oil rigs spark debate: removal or reef?
Twenty-three rigs sit in federal waters off California’s coast, nearing the end of their life spans. BOEM expects them to soon stop producing oil — and, technically, federal leases require companies to completely remove decommissioned rigs. The California Marine Resources Legacy Act provides a loophole, allowing companies an exemption if there is a “net” environmental benefit to leaving the rigs as reefs. To proponents, the option is a win-win: The fish get to live, and companies will donate some of their significant savings to marine conservation. The debate often centers on a scientific question: Do rigs provide beneficial habitat, or do they just attract marine life passing through? Read the rest here 16:54
Feds halt South Atlantic offshore drilling leases , but not seismic testing
There were public expressions of surprise, relief and victory from environmental groups and local officials after the U.S. Department of Interior’s March 15 announcement that there would be no offshore drilling leases in the Atlantic Ocean for the 2017-2022 period. But for drilling opponents and environmental advocates, that celebration has been tempered somewhat by news that, even without drilling, the process of awarding permits for seismic testing in the Atlantic will go ahead — and could lead to such testing later this year. Read the rest here 13:07
Rescheduled for 4 pm Friday Join Us: Phone Call with BOEM Director on New York Offshore Wind
Bipartisan group opposes oil exploration off Georgia
Led by U.S. Reps Mark Sanford, R-S.C., and Bobby Scott, D-Va., a bipartisan group of 33 house members last week sent a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management opposing seismic testing for offshore oil. U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, the Republican freshman whose district spans the Georgia Coast, did not sign on. The letter requested a halt to the permitting and review process for potential seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean from Virginia through Georgia. Read the article here 16:45
Study: Offshore wind’s impacts on fisheries unclear; federal report calls for more research
Advocates for regional fishing industries and marine life are concerned about the impacts of offshore wind turbines as deep-pocketed, experienced developers eye construction in ocean waters south of Martha’s Vineyard. The offshore wind industry has been touted as a key piece of New Bedford’s economic future, but advocates’ concerns are reflected in a federal report that says little is known about how turbines could affect fish populations. State Rep. Patricia Haddad, D-Somerset, is sponsoring energy legislation that includes intended to boost turbine development. Read the article here 17:27
North/South Carolina Views vary on drilling – Feds take comments until Monday
The Associated Press reports five congressmen representing coastal districts in the Carolinas reflect the opposing views in states where both governors are strong advocates of offshore drilling and almost 20 coastal communities oppose the idea. To date, seven coastal communities in South Carolina and 12 in North Carolina are on record against drilling. None are in Carteret County. Read the rest here 09:33
Drilling group unlikely to tap Gulf of Maine for oil and gas
A coalition of U.S. governors pushing for more offshore oil and gas drilling turned heads in Maine last month when it announced that Gov. Paul LePage had become a member. But LePage’s participation doesn’t foreshadow oil rigs off the Maine coast – the latest federal research suggests that the Gulf of Maine lacks the right geology to hold commercial deposits of oil or natural gas. Read the rest here 08:42
BOEM plans on industrializing 300,000 acres of ocean bottom off North Carolina Coast
As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to create American jobs, develop domestic clean energy resources and cut carbon pollution, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Hopper today announced the release of an Environmental Assessment (EA) supporting a potential lease sale for more than 300,000 acres of federal waters off the coast of North Carolina for wind energy development. Read the rest here 20:22
BOEM OCEAN GRABBING – To Auction of 742,000 more acres of Fishing Grounds for commercial wind scam energy production
Offshore wind energy generation always seems to be a distant reality, for the United States at least. But the development pace could pick up with the planned auction of over 742,000 acres off Massachusetts that could produce enough electricity to power half of the homes in that state, said the U.S. Department of Interior on Monday. Read the rest here 11:17
NC officials host closed meeting on oil drilling today Enviros denied access, what about fishermen?
John Filostrat, spokesman for the federal Ocean Energy Management bureau, denied his agency asked that the meeting be closed to the public. However, Filostrat said environmental groups and others would have ample opportunity to comment on the plans for off-shore drilling once a draft of the proposed regulations are completed. Read the rest here 18:37
BOEM to prepare Environmental Impact Statement for Potential Cook Inlet Lease Sale
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced that it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in support of a potential oil and gas lease sale in Cook Inlet, off Alaska’s south central coast. The Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS, which will be published in the Federal Register on Oct. 23, 2014, will open a public comment period extending through Monday, Dec. 8, 2014. Read the rest here 16:58
BOEM – You’re Invited: South Carolina Offshore Energy Public Meetings
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) would like to invite you to attend the South Carolina Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting, as well as two open house public meetings on renewable energy. Information is provided below. Sept. 22, 2014 (4:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Conway, SC, Charleston, SC, Sept. 23, 2014 (12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Charleston, SC Sept. 23, 2014 (5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) Click here for information 13:03
Cape Winds Massachusetts Renewable Energy Circus – local news media lacks any kind of investigative journalism.
In 2010 Governor Deval Patrick announced the building of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal costing 35 million. The terminal is being built as an ocean wind turbine port today at a price of 100 million. At least that is what it being told the public through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. At the same in 2010 the BOEM, Bureau of Ocean Management gave Cape Wind a federal permit to build and stage their Nantucket Shoals 130 wind turbines from Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Read more here 09:43
Obama opens East Coast to oil search
Opening the Eastern Seaboard to offshore oil exploration for the first time in decades, the Obama administration on Friday approved,,,”No one has been allowed to test anything like this on right whales,” Kraus said of the seismic cannons. “(The Obama administration) has authorized a giant experiment on right whales that this country would never allow researchers to do.” Read more here 11:36
New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal: Dirty Little Secret
While researching the latest Cape Wind story and the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. I get the sense that the Patrick administration sold the Legislature on the NB terminal using Cape Wind.,, The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center will not comment on any finances with the ongoing terminal project. Generally when state officials refuse comment on finances the projects are financially out of control. Read more here, and learn just who is Sally Reynolds! 11:55
Martha’s Vineyard: Islanders question local benefits of offshore wind project leases
Concerns about how Martha’s Vineyard will benefit from a commercial offshore renewable wind energy project 12 nautical miles south of its shores dominated discussion at a public hearing to discuss the proposed leasing process and transmission route at a public meeting Monday night in the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Tisbury. Read more here 08:27
Scientists map sea floor off NC for potential wind energy
“North Carolina reportedly has some of the best conditions for wind in the Southeast United States,” said Chris Taylor, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research ecologist at the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science lab in Beaufort. “Our proximity to the Gulf Stream promotes relatively consistent strong winds that can have the potential for producing energy if utilized in the right way.” (what bullshit this is.) Read more here 17:52
VIDEO – Bureau of Land Management, NOAA, NMFS, US Interior, BOEM, National Ocean Policy Same Same Same
Support Nevada Cattle Rancher Cliven Bundy – You will be supporting your industry too. This is all too familiar. It must stop. Watch this video. 10:22
Fishing, energy interests spar over possible LI wind farm lease – BOEM Sweet Talks Before Ramming It In!
Tensions between ocean fishing interests and offshore-wind-energy planners were evident at a meeting in Montauk Tuesday as federal regulators set the stage for leasing hundreds of miles of the Atlantic for wind farms. Read more here newsday 07:48
Submitted: Here’s an example of the operational tactics of the reprehensible BOEM as it leases tracts of Mid-Atlantic Squid fishing ocean bottom.
only “insiders” are wanted as attendees “…the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has scheduled a public seminar in Baltimore, Maryland to provide an overview of its proposed auction format for a renewable energy competitive lease sale in federal waters offshore Maryland.”
Note the notice for this seminar to “…explain their leasing auction rules and demonstrate the auction process through meaningful examples.” was sent out on Thurs. Jan. 23 at 5:58 pm in the “Afternoon” of the day before a scheduled seminar in Baltimore, Maryland on Friday Jan. 24 at 12:30 to 4:30 pm. Read more here 18:29
Mass. and R.I. Work Together for Mutual Benefit? Who’s benefit?
When, in 2009, Massachusetts and Rhode Island coastal zone managers first mulled over the idea of creating an area of mutual interest, they knew uncharted territory lay ahead. The term “area of mutual interest” — or AMI, traditionally refers to a location designated for partners, under contract, to use for extraction of gas and oil. In this case, the AMI refers to an area designated for the two states to explore as part of the nation’s effort to assess its potential for tapping offshore renewable energy resources. more@ecori (click on the chart at the article) 09:27
BOEM Extends Comment Period for Information Request on Next Five Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program
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