Offshore staff
(US, Virginia)- A federal hearing on oil and natural gas drilling off Virginia's coast drew a full house in Norfolk recently, with drilling's supporters slightly outnumbering opponents.
The Interior Dept.'s Minerals Management Service (MMS) has proposed opening 6.1 million acres off the state's coast to oil and natural gas leasing. The federal agency's decision to include Virginia in its leasing plans was prompted in part by the General Assembly's recent support of drilling for natural gas.
The agency held two hearings in order to get ideas from the public on which issues it should consider as it prepares a draft environmental impact statement on the proposal, which also would include some areas in the GoM and off Alaska's coasts.
The agency expects to have a draft environmental statement ready by August and hold hearings on it this fall. The interior secretary's decision on leasing could be made as early as May 2007.
Before leasing could occur off Virginia's coast, Congress and the president would have to agree to lift the moratorium in those areas.
If leasing is approved, leases would be offered in 9-sq-mi sections, for both oil and natural gas. If only natural gas were leased--as Virginia lawmakers have indicated is their desire--Congress would have to change the leasing law.
The MMS' latest estimate is that the entire US Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida might yield 3.8 Bbbl of oil and 37 tcf of natural gas.
More than 60 people signed up to speak for the two sessions, but few offered specific suggestions on which environmental concerns the agency should consider as it prepares its environmental analysis of the drilling proposal.
Due to the greater number of drilling supporters in the crowd, the main focus of remarks was on the economic benefits that offshore gas development could bring to the state. Some supporters also spoke of the need for energy independence as a matter of national security.
State Sen. Frank W. Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, noted during the hearing that a study by Virginia's secretary of commerce and trade concluded that offshore development could be done safely. The senator sponsored a bill in this year's General Assembly that creates a state energy plan that includes offshore natural gas development.
Max Bartholomew, a Dominion Virginia Power manager from Virginia Beach, said a sister company is producing natural gas quietly, cleanly, safely, and out of public view in the GoM. Unless the country provides access to the 80% of offshore resources now locked up, industries will move overseas because of high energy prices, he said.
Several employees of Virginia natural-gas utilities also spoke in support of drilling.
Josh Young of the American Chemistry Council said 100,000 jobs and $50 billion in revenue have been lost in the chemical industry already because of high natural gas prices. A spokesperson for DuPont's Chesterfield County plant said high gas prices have hurt her plant's ability to compete in world markets.
Opponents to drilling questioned the economic claims of supporters, and expressed concerns about drilling's impact on the environment.
Glen Bessa of Richmond said better alternatives to offshore drilling would be more efficient use of current energy supplies and renewable energy sources.
If offshore drilling has been such an economic boon, he asked why Gulf Coast states such as Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana are some of the nation's poorest.
Don Jeffries of Virginia Beach said allowing drilling off Virginia would open a Pandora's Box that would endanger the rest of the US coastline.
Henry Howell, son of the late Virginia lieutenant governor, said he supports the moratorium on drilling, saying that whales and porpoises can't speak for themselves.
If oil and gas companies are allowed to lease off Virginia's coast, they need to pay Virginia's residents what they're due for their resources, Howell concluded.
04/07/2006
