Tag Archives: bureau-of-ocean-energy-management
Two companies have proposed offshore wind farms in Hawaii
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the agency that would decide whether to approve ocean leases for the projects, held a meeting about the proposals Monday. Among concerns raised so far is the potential danger that whales or submarines could bump into the cords anchoring the turbines to the ocean floor, said Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, a Hawaii nonprofit organization. “Do you want to really turn the ocean into the next industrial site?” Curtis asked. Some fishermen are concerned about the possible impact on birds flying over the sea. “The best fish spotters we have are birds,” said Ron Tam, secretary of the Hawaii Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition. “And then, are we going to be able to fish in and about and through these floating machines? We don’t know…That has a definite economic impact.” Read the rest here 11:42
Bi Partisan push to stop East Coast Oil/Gas Exploration
U.S. Rep Mark Sanford and nearly three dozen fellow House members increased pressure Thursday to curtail the search for oil and gas off the Atlantic coast because of environmental and economic concerns. In a letter Thursday to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s director, the House members said using seismic testing “is an enormously disruptive activity in the ocean’’ that could hurt both and endangered whales. Read the article here 15:26
Fishermen’s Energy Loses Bid for Wind Farm Leases Off LBI
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held an offshore land lease sale for the purposes of developing future wind farms on Monday, Nov. 9. Although a locally held company, Fishermen’s Energy, participated in the auction, it lost out to two other concerns. The proposed areas for wind farms off Long Island would also affect the squid fishery and mackerel catches, Mayor Kirk Larson said. “It’s not just scallops. It could affect who knows how many fisheries.” Read the rest here 09:51
‘Sea Level Research’ Is Seismic Ruse for Oil Exploration – Neal Roberts, Lanoka Harbor, N.J.
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I read with interest last autumn when a retired Princeton University professor emeritus wrote a letter to the editor defending the Rutgers University seismic testing proposed for the ocean floor within 20 miles of Barnegat Light (“Fear Not,” 11/12/2014). The Barnegat Light commercial fishing industry, local officials, New Jersey congressmen and legislators, Clean Ocean Action, Alliance for a Living Ocean and the state Department of Environmental Protection came out against the 2014 Atlantic Ocean project. (photo) Read the rest here 15:48
Feds receive thousands of comments on Atlantic drilling
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The federal government has received thousands of comments on the contentious issue of drilling for oil and gas off the Atlantic coast. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is seeking comment on what should be included in an environmental impact statement on offshore drilling which for the first time could include Atlantic drilling. The agency in recent weeks held a series of public meetings along the coast. The deadline for comments is Monday night. Read the rest here 12:52
Obama administration agrees to N.J. public hearing on Atlantic oil drilling
Obama administration officials have agreed to hold a public hearing in New Jersey before deciding whether to let companies drill for oil and gas off the Atlantic Coast, lawmakers said today. The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management hearing likely will take place in March at a time and place yet to be announced. Read the rest here 09:01
Fish expert sounds off on seismic surveys
The impact of the surveys on whales and other marine life has been hotly debated. In August, William Yancey Brown, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s chief environmental officer, asserted in an agency newsletter that there’s no documented scientific evidence of noise from air guns used in seismic surveys “adversely affecting marine animal populations or coastal communities” or commercial fishing. But Grant Gilmore, a senior scientist with,,, Read the rest here 12:15
Princeton Professor Emeritus of Geosciences Defends Marine Seismic Surveys for Study of Earth
R/V Maurice Ewing – The vessel was also slated for use in summer 2014 for a Rutgers University-led near-shore seismic study – opposed by many on the Jersey Shore, including fishermen, lawmakers and the nonprofit Clean Ocean Action, because of potential harm to sea life and fisheries commerce. Read the rest here 08:29
BOEM (the ocean destruction agency) targets fishing impacts
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has complied ‘best management practices’ (BMPs) to reduce fishing impacts by offshore wind energy development in the Atlantic Ocean. The agency and offshore wind leaseholders will use the recommendations in individual development plans. Read the rest here 20:05
Boom! Oil-exploring seismic blasts could soon disrupt whale territory
NAGS HEAD, N.C. As early as next spring, the boom of seismic cannons will sound under the Atlantic Ocean as the first oil and gas exploration allowed off the East Coast in three decades gets underway. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approved opening an area of the Atlantic Coast from Delaware to Florida for the seismic blasts, saying there “has been no documented scientific evidence”,, Read the rest here 20:47
This GOP governor wants to halt offshore oil and gas exploration
“This ruling is very disappointing to the administration, and could have a negative impact on the ocean and its wildlife,” The stance is a rare one for a GOP governor to take — especially one who might have presidential ambitions — given that seismic airgun testing is a prelude to eventual drilling. The Obama administration is expected allow production in the Atlantic for the first time in decades in its next five-year drilling plan, which it is drafting. Read more here 12:43
Big step for Oregon wave demo of hydrokinetic energy test project
A 20MW wave-energy test project off Oregon has cleared another permitting hurdle. The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today said it is appropriate to issue a lease on a non-competitive basis for the site offshore Newport.,, 33-square mile area about four miles offshore, where water depths range from 180 to 230 feet. Read more here 09:46
Blowing hot air – Offshore wind leases announced – HUGE Acreage – 742,000 acres off the coast of Massachusetts
The proposed sale of leases for the largest area in the nation designated for offshore wind energy projects was announced by U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, and other officials Tuesday at the state’s wind turbine technology testing facility. Read more here 10:04
Guest column: Warnings about seismic testing, Neil A. Armingeon of St. Augustine
The noise is constant, every 16 seconds, 24 hour a day, for weeks on end. Could you read? Communicate with your family? This isn’t science fiction. It could happen near our beaches and our coastal waters. The oil and gas industry want to map oil and gas reserves off the Atlantic coast. To do that, it needs seismic airgun testing. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill taught us there is no such thing as clean oil and gas production. Read more here 16:29
Montauk Commercial Fishermen Want Say on Wind Farm
The queer minded notions of Deepwater chief executive Jeffrey Grybowski
As a Rhode Island company navigates multiple regulatory agencies in order to construct the first offshore wind farms in the United States in the ocean east of Montauk, commercial fishermen are raising concerns about how such projects will impact their livelihood. “We’re trying to sustainably grow the fishing economy,” said Ms. Brady, who lives in Montauk. “You don’t destroy something in the name of green energy. To destroy a sustainable industry in the name of sustainability is insane.” Read more here 16:53
Bloated Bureaucracy Creating Conflict by Executive Order – NOP Riverhead “Listening Session”
Notice of the Riverhead listening sessions was sent to stakeholders by email and via a listserv, Michael Snyder of the N.Y. Department of State, said after the meeting. Notice was not given to the news media for public dissemination, he acknowledged. A host of nongovernmental organizations were represented in the audience, including: The Natural Resources Defense Council, the Peconic Estuary Program, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, The Nature Conservancy, Sea Grant, Concerned Citizens of Montauk, the Surfrider Foundation and the N.Y. Aquarium. riverheadlocal.com Read more here 17:44
Montauk fishermen take criticism of offshore wind to feds
Workers from the federal office in charge of leasing offshore lands to wind farms knew they were facing a skeptical audience when they traveled to Montauk Tuesday morning to discuss their leasing program with Montauk fishermen. Read more here windwatch.org 10:06
NOAA and partners release first federal ocean acidification strategic research plan
Today, NOAA and its partners released the first federal strategic plan to guide research and monitoring investments that will improve our understanding of ocean acidification, its potential impacts on marine species and ecosystems, and adaptation and mitigation strategies. Read more here 10:04
Obama administration takes step toward allowing Atlantic Ocean drilling
The Obama administration forbids Atlantic Ocean drilling through 2017. An earlier version of President Obama’s five-year offshore drilling plan permitted such activity, but he excluded Atlantic drilling from the plan following the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more here 16:50
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management : Proposed US energy rules would shield whales
The so-called mitigation measures outlined by BOEM also call for visual observers to avoid vessel strikes with whales and other marine life; testing to detect and avoid other marine life, including dolphins; and protections for nesting sea turtles, dolphins and areas where right whales congregate. Read more here 14:37
Christopher Brown: Plan to exploit oceans scares fishermen
The Rhode Island fishing community is dealing with its own Pebble Mine, at least metaphorically. Huge tracts of ocean have been offered for lease by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). These options are being pursued by the likes of offshore energy and offshore mining. Read more@providencejournal 11:29
Seismic airgun activities place Georgia’s right whales at risk during oil exploration
Highly endangered right whales, which give birth in the waters off Georgia, could be harmed by the use of seismic airguns to explore for oil and gas there, said panelists at a forum Thursday night at Savannah State University. In its draft environmental study, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimates that seismic airgun activities planned for an eight-year span for the Atlantic will injure and possibly kill 138,500 dolphins and whales. more@savannanow 17:56
With a $3.8 million bid, Rhode Island’s Deepwater Wind New England won the nation’s first offshore wind energy auction
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had split the 164,750-acre area, roughly 2½ times the size of Nantucket, into two portions for development. Deepwater Wind beat out two other developers, Sea Breeze Energy LLC and US Wind Inc, to purchase the entire area after 11 rounds of bidding. The company did receive a 20 percent “credit”,,earned its discount because it had entered into a “joint development agreement” with the state of Rhode Island. Continued@soutcoasttoday
BOEM Announces Second Potential Wind Energy Research Lease for Federal Waters Offshore Virginia – Agency Seeks Public Comment on Virginia’s Proposed Project
WASHINGTON – As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy development, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced today – continued@publicnotices/pressreleases
VIDEO: This Week at Interior July 26, 2013 The continued march to comandere the EEZ for the Pinwheel Lobby Continuuuuue’s.
This week: the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announces a second sale of offshore wind energy leases, this one off the coast of Virginia; President Obama, Secretary Jewell, and other dignitaries will take part in ceremonies this week commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice; and staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service take part in a special outing in Oregon, a fishing trip for kids with cerebral palsy. Video
University of Southern Mississippi asks Professor / Chairman Vernon Asper to step down from Commission on Marine Resources
Chairman Vernon Asper has resigned from the Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources, following a recommendation from his employer — the University of Southern Mississippi, where he has been a Professor of Marine Sciences for the past 27 years. “The university administration had become concerned that my continued service on the commission was becoming a liability to the university,” Asper said Wednesday morning. “They want to keep the university separate from this kind of controversy.” (Controversy? Like the IG’s final audit report on DMR?) The report also mentions conflicts of interest between Walker and his wife Sharon, who has been employed by two major subgrantees — the University of Southern Mississippi and the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies. Walker’s son, Scott, served on the board of trustees of the Nature Conservancy, which was the recipient of grants, another conflict of interest. DMR also used CIAP funds to purchase property owned by Scott Walker. This could get interesting! Chairman Vernon Asper steps down from Commission on Marine Resources (updated)
Inspector General’s final audit report on DMR cites numerous mismanagement issues (updated)
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Science Notes: Atlantic Discovery – Dick Grachek
Here’s some more info from the friendly science of BOEM and their benevolent deep sea exploration for cute little ecosystems, “but wait folks that’s not all…” Why, you might ask, this (very expensive) interest in the Deep Sea ecology, no
w? Why is NOAA sinking all this dough into this mysterious realm, at this time, when the declared Disaster in the fisheries is ignored, and when NOAA’s scientists claim a shortfall of funds as the justification for shoddy and incomplete fish stock surveys? continued
Compass: New federal ocean policy bodes ill for Alaska – Rep. Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage,
ADN- Alaskans today have tremendous potential opportunities that can provide lasting benefits for decades to come. Plentiful energy and mineral resources, new Arctic shipping lanes, vibrant fisheries, and a bustling tourism i
ndustry are but a few of the areas that could all combine to usher in a new era of unprecedented economic and societal prosperity for the people of Alaska and beyond. Unfortunately, prospects for this bright future could potentially be delayed if not derailed as a result of President Obama’s issuance of the July 2010 and the recently-released National Ocean Policy Final Implementation Plan. continued
Companies signal interest in offshore Va. winds
Energy Management Inc., developer of the Cape Wind project in federal waters off Massachusetts’ Cape Cod, and Sea Breeze Power Corp. alerted the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that they might join the bidding later this year to develop wind energy in the 133-square-mile area off Virginia Beach. They join Dominion Virginia Power and seven other energy companies that have already expressed interest. Read more here
New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal: Dirty Little Secret
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