NOAA issues Mid-Atlantic OCS incidental harassment authorizations

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries division issued long-awaited incidental harassment authorizations to five geophysical contractors to conduct the first oil and gas seismic evaluations on the US Mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf since the 1980s. Oil and gas associations welcomed the agency’s Nov. 30 move while environmental organizations strongly criticized it.

CGG, ION Geoventures, Spectrum Geo Inc., TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co., and Schlumberger subsidiary Western Geco now must get permits from the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management before proceeding with their evaluations, NOAA Fisheries officials said. The authorizations are good for a year.

“These authorizations require appropriate mitigation measures and monitoring and reporting of any marine take, which will involve harassment in this case,” said Donna Weiting, who directs the Protected Resources Office within NOAA Fisheries.

“There was a lot of interest in this matter across the board. We concentrate on protecting marine mammals and species, and don’t speculate on why this happened,” she said.

“Our general goal is to address requests for authorization as quickly as we can. This one took longer than usual,” noted Jolie Harrison, chief, permits and conservation division within the Protect Resources Office. “There were several pieces that became available during the process. There also were more than 120,000 comments we had to consider that required more time.”

Benjamin Laws, a biologist in that office, noted, “We were required under the Marine Mammal Protection Act [(MMPA)] to make a finding of negligible impact, which happened here. While we understand from the available science that these oil and gas surveys could affect individual animals, we believe the impacts on survival of these populations will be negligible.”

They said the authorizations require the geophysical contractors to take mitigation measures that include:

• Observers on board survey vessels to listen and watch for marine life and alert operators if a protected species comes within a certain distance.

• Operational restrictions designed to eliminate or reduce impacts to sensitive species in their preferred habitats.

• Acoustic monitoring to detect marine mammal vocalizations beneath the ocean surface.

• Gradual increases of seismic activity to alert animals in the area and reduce potential for exposure to intense noise.

• Required shutdowns when certain sensitive species or groups are observed.

• Vessel strike avoidance procedures.

Oil and gas associations applauded the announcement. “The standard, which has to be met under the [MMPA], is that oil and gas activities must have a negligible impact. NOAA’s extensive review has shown that this will be the case,” International Association of Geophysical Contractor Pres. Nikki Martin said.

“We now call on the Interior Department and BOEM to move expeditiously and issue the necessary permits. No regulated entity should have to wait more than 4 years for this kind of decision in a modern and civilized government,” she said.

National Ocean Industries Association Pres. Randall B. Luthi said, “NOAA’s action is a critical step in the process and completes its recommendations to BOEM.”

Seismic surveys are used not only discover areas having oil and gas potential, but also to map the ocean floor, locate shipwrecks and coral reefs, and identify suitable areas for wind and other energy developments, Luthi said.

“In fact, such surveys have been conducted up and down the Atlantic coast for decades—with no negative environmental impacts. The action now shifts to BOEM where the IHA recommendations will be incorporated into the permitting process,” Luthi said.

American Petroleum Institute Upstream and Industry Operations Vice-Pres. Erik Milito said, “Mitigation measures such as having trained marine mammal observers onboard to watch for animals and order shutdowns if appropriate are standard operating procedures designed to minimize impacts to marine life. The US needs to know what energy resources exist off of our shores, and we hope that permits to survey for offshore oil and gas and a full National Offshore Leasing Plan to explore and develop the OCS will move forward soon.”

The last Mid-Atlantic oil and gas surveys took place about 30 years, Milito said. “Since that time, technological advances have dramatically improved our ability to pinpoint likely reservoirs, which makes existing resource estimates in that area out of date,” he said. “New surveys using state-of-the-art techniques and technology would provide a better understanding of the Atlantic OCS’s oil and gas resource potential.”

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].