The Dangers of Seismic Air Gun Testing off the First Coast

The NE FL Sierra Club in Ponte Vedra will host a presentation by Erin Handy of Oceana to discuss the plans for seismic air gun blasting to test for oil and gas deposits off our coast, the death and injuries that it could cause to our marine mammals, and the potential adverse effects to our tourism and commercial and recreational fishing industries. Seismic air gun testing is a preliminary step towards oil drilling and production off our coast and the possibility of oil spills.

All are welcome! For further information, contact Larry Lickenbrock at (904) 537-6047. The program will be held in the PGA meeting room of the Ponte Vedra Beach Public Library on Library Road at A1A (blinking light south of the intersection of A1A and Solana Road, on A1A about two miles south of Butler Boulevard).

This is a new column appearing monthly focusing on often-overlooked things you can do to help contribute to a more sustainable planet. Many of the projects we focus on are large scale and involve politicians, petitions, etc; this space hits closer to home: Make a Positive Impact...Your Time is Now!

You, as Sierra Club members, are all challenged to immediately stop using paper/plastic/styrofoam plates, cups, utensils, and napkins! It is disappointing to see club members using such items at meetings and outings. We are the Sierra Club...we are better than this...we MUST set the example for all!

Also keep this in mind when going out to eat, parties, everywhere: Bring your own cloth napkins instead of using the restaurant's paper ones, refuse cocktail napkins and straws, bring a to-go container for leftovers, etc; this requires thought, but it also conserves resources and protects our planet! In any one instance these things might not seem like a big deal, but imagine how many people use these items every day, often more than once, and what a huge impact this would have if we all did it!

Consider these facts:

• The average American will throw away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year.
• Stop buying water bottles! Use a water filter instead, as on average twice as much water is used to make a bottle of water as is actually in the bottle!
• 8% of the world's oil is used for plastic production.
• Use reusable bags when shopping in every store: Approximately 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year; that's more than 1,200 bags per US resident, per year.
• Finally, consider the energy it takes to produce, ship, and dispose/recycle all these disposable items...stop...Your Time is Now!

Sign the petition urging legislators to support this ban, and protect our citizens and environment from the severe dangers fracking.

Sign here

For more information on the dangers of hydraulic fracturing click here.

In 2015 we will hold our second annual "Rally in Tally" on February 18 and will be organizing buses and carpools to get activists from this area to Tallahassee to make a "big splash" for water! For our 2015 rally the Floridians' Clean Water Declaration Campaign will join forces with the Florida's Water and Land Legacy (Amendment 1) Campaign for Floridians for Clean Water & Amendment 1 Rally!

We hope you can join us to send a double-whammy message to the powers that be!

Clean water advocates representing every corner of the state have come together in the past year in the Floridians' Clean Water Declaration Campaign. The Declaration, signed by over 143 organizations, is a positive vision to inspire people to work together to find solutions to Florida's water quality and quantity problems and to send a clear message to the state's water managers that the people of Florida demand clean water:

In January 2013 concerned Floridians from more than 100 different organizations in 16 communities at risk from water pollution and the unrestrained over-consumption of water resources gathered to make a stand for clean water in Florida at simultaneous "Commit to Clean Water" events (held in Boynton Beach, Bradenton, Ft. Myers, Ft. Pierce, Gainesville, Interlachen, Jacksonville, Key West, Palm Bay, Orlando, Naples, Ocala, Stuart, Tallahassee, Tampa, and Vero Beach).

In February of 2014 over 250 clean water activists converged upon Tallahassee for a "We Want Clean Water Rally" and then spread over the Capitol to "talk water" with legislators.

The Floridians' Clean Water Declaration Campaign uses both a website and Facebook Page to reach out to Floridians of all stripes; individuals, businesses, organizations, and elected officials are asked to sign the declaration. Organizations and individual activists around the state are gathering signatures at meetings and tabling events. If you would like to join the effort in any way, including traveling to Tallahassee for the Floridians for Clean Water & Amendment 1 Rally, please contact Cris Costello - [email protected].

Up and down the coast of Florida, towns are coming out against seismic air gun blasting to test for oil and gas in the Atlantic Ocean. Twenty-six municipalities in eight states, including Fernandina Beach, Atlantic Beach, St. Augustine and St. Johns County and 6 other Florida coastal towns, have passed resolutions opposing seismic air gun blasting and offshore drilling. More than 200 elected officials, including Senator Bill Nelson and 11 members of Congress from Florida have written to President Obama asking him to reverse the decision to allow the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to issue permits for oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic.

Here's why so many towns and representatives oppose seismic blasting and offshore drilling.

Seismic air gun blasting is dangerous. Seismic air guns are used to shoot extremely loud blasts of compressed air through the ocean and miles into the seafloor to locate oil and natural gas deposits. This could be conducted by several ships, each with its own array of eight to ten air guns, blasting every 10 seconds for days to months at a time. The blasts could disturb, injure, or kill dolphins, sea turtles and other marine life including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. Not only is this a threat to sea life, but it also threatens the industries that depend on them, such as commercial and recreational fishing and coastal tourism.

Expanding offshore drilling is unnecessary. Not only is the drilling process dangerous in itself, but expanding the fossil fuel industry at a time when the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather, increased hurricanes and floods, sea level rise and acidifying oceans, are worsening, is irresponsible. We have other cleaner and safer energy sources in the Atlantic, including offshore wind. Offshore wind can provide lasting jobs for coastal residents, and is fast becoming a reality as energy companies from Massachusetts to Maryland compete for the rights to develop wind turbines off the coast. Clean energy could expand even more rapidly if Congress would renew the tax credits for these burgeoning industries that will expire at the end of 2014.

Finally, bringing offshore drilling to the Atlantic will expose Florida and the east coast to the dangers of a major spill like the BP disaster that took place in the Gulf as well as the threat of constant leaks and spills that occur from offshore drilling rigs and transport ships. The damage that was done to the Gulf by the BP catastrophe in 2010 has been both widespread and long-lasting. The fact that a major oil spill has happened in every ocean in which offshore drilling has occurred should be a major red flag to coastal residents.  

Seismic blasting and offshore drilling could threaten that economic foundation for each and every town in Florida and the entire east coast and the process could begin soon. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is currently reviewing applications from 9 individual companies that want to profit from seismic blasting. This means that air guns could be in the water as early as 2015.

Now is the time for concerned Florida residents and our elected officials to come out against these dangerous practices, to protect our beaches ocean and marine life. Contact your mayor and city council representative and ask them to join the growing list of communities saying "NO" to this dangerous threat to our homes, coastal communities and quality of life.

For more information or visit www.stopthedrill.org or contact Erin Handy at [email protected]