Saving Seafood

Trump Drilling Plans Raise Concerns Over Discarded Poison Gas, Nuke Waste

April 24, 2018 — The Trump administration’s proposal to open large tracts of seabed off the South Carolina coast to oil and gas exploration has drawn a sharp rebuke from a statewide business advocacy group concerned about the thousands of unexploded bombs, poison gas and radioactive waste that were dumped in the planned exploration zone.

In a written a statement submitted to the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Frank Knapp of the South Carolina Business Chamber of Commerce, said oil and gas exploration off the coast would increase the risk of disturbing long-dormant hazards and contaminating marine life harvested by fisherman up and down the east coast.

“We have a tremendous stake in our coastal economy and environmental health of ocean and coast,” said Knapp, the chamber’s chief executive officer.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service

 

Why Trump is defending a marine monument made by Obama

April 23, 2018 — The Trump administration is defending an underwater national monument off the coast of New England designated by former President Barack Obama in 2016, but not because it likes what Obama created.

After all, President Trump last year issued a rollback of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah, and his administration has argued that Obama and other recent presidents abused their authority in creating or expanding national monuments on large swaths of public land.

Trump wants fewer and smaller monuments, and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended the president shrink the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument that the administration is now backing in court.

So, what gives?

It’s all about presidential power.

“If anything, I would not be surprised if we see President Trump issue an executive order down the line eliminating or diminishing this very same marine monument,” said Justin Pidot, a law professor at the University of Denver who served as the deputy solicitor for land resources at the Interior Department during the Obama administration.

Read the full story at the Washington Examiner

 

Trump administration defends Atlantic marine monument against lawsuit

April 20, 2018 — The Trump administration has gone on the record in defense of Barack Obama’s 2016 establishment of the 5,000-square mile Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, according to a defense filing in federal court this week.

Jeffrey H. Wood, acting assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division, entered a motion on Monday, April 16, to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Obama’s authority to make the monument designation filed by various fishing organizations. The lawsuit has been on hold since last spring after President Donald Trump ordered an official review of several National Marine Monuments established by Obama. That hold was lifted in mid-March and the plaintiffs are ready to pick up where they left off.

The lawsuit argues that Obama never had the authority to establish the monument under the the Antiquities Act, given that the ocean is not “land owned or controlled by the federal government,” as the act stipulates.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Bristol Bay advocates argue against Pebble in D.C.

April 20, 2018 — WASHINGTON — Anti-mine advocates with the Bristol Bay Native Corp. made the rounds in Washington, D.C., this week to get a word in with regulators and lawmakers about the ongoing permit process for the proposed Pebble Mine.

The visit came as the a round of public events wrapped up in Anchorage Thursday.

The group’s members said that they aren’t happy with the way the Army Corps of Engineers is running the show, but that they have confidence that the Environmental Protection Agency and Alaska’s congressional delegation will help them stand in the way of the potential gold, copper and molybdenum mine that they worry will poison headwaters of the Bristol Bay salmon fisheries.

The will-they-or-won’t-they saga of the Pebble prospect has run on for more than a decade, with no sign of a permit application until December. Now the anti-Pebble advocates, including Bristol Bay salmon fishermen and a slew of environmental groups, are arguing that the process is going to fast.

The Trump administration’s EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt, initially balked at a watershed assessment crafted under the Obama administration, but put the decision-making document back on the table earlier this year.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

 

Trump administration seeks dismissal of Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument lawsuit

April 19, 2018 — Despite its willingness to review the designations made by its predecessor, the Trump Administration is at least defending former President Obama’s ability to create national monuments. That’s according to a filing in federal court earlier this week.

Jeffrey H. Wood, acting assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division, entered a motion on 16 April to dismiss a lawsuit filed last year by the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. The Lobstermen and other fishing groups filed the suit in response to the Obama Administration designating the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in September 2016.

The Northeast Canyons was the first national marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean, and with that designation, commercial fishing – with certain exclusions for red crab and lobster fishing – is not permitted in the nearly 5,000-square-mile area. Crab and lobster fishing would continue until a seven-year permit expires.

Last year, Trump ordered Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review the monuments, which were created under the Antiquities Act. While Zinke has not recommended removing any designation for marine monuments, he has encouraged Trump to open monuments for more commercial fishing opportunities.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Trump Administration Defends Obama’s Atlantic Monument

April 18, 2018 — The Trump administration is defending an underwater monument established by former President Barack Obama to protect marine life in the Atlantic Ocean and asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from fishermen trying to eliminate it.

President Obama established the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument in September 2016, setting aside a 5,000-square mile are off of New England for protection due to the presence in the area of fragile deep sea corals and vulnerable species of marine life in the area.

The move inspired a lawsuit by fisherman and lobstermen who claimed Obama “exceeded his power under the Antiquities Act” when cordoning off the ocean acreage from commercial use.

But on Monday, the Trump administration filed a lengthy defense of the monument in federal court in Washington.

The filing comes even as the White House continues to review several monuments created by President Trump’s Democratic predecessor.

Read the full story at the Courthouse News Service   

 

Experts: Seismic testing may release radioactive material from ocean floor

April 18, 2018 —  New fears of releasing toxic and radioactive materials buried in the ocean floor are fueling concerns about the affects of seismic testing for oil and natural gas in the Atlantic Ocean.

This is in response to the Trump administration’s new draft five-year program (2019-2024) for oil and gas development on the outer continental shelf, which proposes to expand future oil and gas leasing to nearly all U.S. waters including the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic and eastern Gulf of Mexico. This is the largest number of potential offshore lease sales ever proposed.

The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Department of Defense to obtain the facts about ammunition dumps in the Atlantic that contain conventional, chemical and radioactive weapons and materials, according to a press release. FOIA requests were also sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce for information on radioactive waste disposed of in the Atlantic, the release states.

“For over 60 years our country has used the Atlantic Ocean as a trash can for all kinds of toxic materials,” said Frank Knapp Jr., president and CEO of the chamber. “According to a 2009 Defense Department report, ‘Prior to the 1970s … sea disposal was considered one of the safest alternatives available to dispose of munitions.’ That report indicates that over 17,000 tons of munitions with highly toxic materials have been dumped along the Atlantic Coast. In the 1950s the old Atomic Energy Commission approved the dumping of radioactive waste in 55-gallon drums in the ocean. Industries creating other kinds of toxic wastes did the same.”

The FOIA requests seek to identify the exact locations, types of toxic materials, containers used, weight of deposits and dates of the dumps, Knapp said. This information would be the basis for asking for mitigation strategies to prevent the disturbance of these toxic material dump sites should federal agencies approve seismic surveys, he said.

Read the full story at Southstrand News

Massachusetts: Offshore Oil Drilling Sparks Early Opposition on Martha’s Vineyard

April 18, 2018 — Island environmental groups and state legislators are strongly opposing a plan by the Trump administration to open up North Atlantic waters to offshore oil and gas exploration.

The five-year drilling plan announced in early January by the U.S. Department of the Interior calls for drilling along East Coast federal waters from Georgia to Maine, including waters off Massachusetts.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission has gone on record early against the idea of drilling.

“Opening our coast to drilling and the potential for a dangerous spill is a reckless threat to our region,” wrote MVC executive director Adam Turner in a recent letter to Gov. Charlie Baker. “Any oil spill, even in a limited quantity, will have serious consequences to the Island and the region.”

Mr. Turner said he wanted to make it clear to the governor early on that the commission is opposed to the proposal.

“I’m concerned about what safeguards are in place to avoid an oil spill or contamination in the water,” Mr. Turner said. “What’s the impact on wildlife?”

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has also opposed the plan, saying that the drilling could threaten the state’s $7.3 billion fishing industry and 1,500 miles of coastline and raising the prospect of taking legal action.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

 

Trump Administration Defends Obama’s Atlantic Monument

April 17, 2018 — PORTLAND, Maine — The Trump administration on Tuesday defended an underwater monument off the coast of New England established by former President Barack Obama to protect marine life in the Atlantic Ocean and asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from fishermen trying to eliminate it.

The fishing groups sued in federal court in Washington, challenging the creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument by the Democratic former president in 2016. It’s a 5,000-square-mile area that contains fragile deep sea corals and vulnerable species of marine life, such as right whales.

The Commerce Department argues the president has clear authority under the federal Antiquities Act to establish national monuments. The federal government is defending the monument at the same time it’s reviewing its creation as part of President Donald Trump’s review of several monuments created by Obama.

Trump, a Republican, has ordered drastic reductions to some monuments, saying they were part of a “massive federal land grab” by previous administrations.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New York Times

New Jersey Ready to Ban Offshore Drilling, Thwart Trump Plan

April 13, 2018 — TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey is prepared to thwart President Donald Trump’s plan for offshore oil and gas drilling by enacting a ban on such activity or its supporting infrastructure in state waters.

The state Assembly gave final legislative approval Thursday to a measure banning not only drilling in state waters, but any activity that supports it, such as pipelines and docks.

The bill now goes to the desk of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who has repeatedly voiced opposition to the drilling plan.

New Jersey is one of numerous coastal states adopting such tactics as a back-door way to thwart the Republican president’s drilling plan in their areas.

Although it would take place in more distant federal waters, the state bans effectively block the drilling plan by preventing anything related to drilling from being built in state-controlled waters closer to shore.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at US News