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.
“Massachusetts does not want drilling off our coast and I will fight this proposal to defend our state and our residents,” the Attorney General said in comments sent to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
State Rep. Dylan Fernandes also opposes the plan and recently signed a letter to Secretary of the Interior from 226 other legislators representing coastal states.
“Our biggest industry on the Cape and Islands is tourism,” he said. “If there is any sort of disaster, it could destroy our entire economy.”
The drilling would take place in federal waters outside state jurisdiction.
But it’s also questionable whether there are deep oil resources off the Massachusetts coast, according to Martha’s Vineyard Commission coastal planner Jo-Ann Taylor.
“I’ve done a lot of marine geophysics research and from what I know, there’s no reason to believe that there are vast oil resources out there,” Ms. Taylor said.
She added that with a large area off the coast now designated for wind energy or excluded from drilling for environmental reasons, the prospect for exploratory drilling appears distant.
“So far, the stars seem to be lining up in favor of not having the drilling,” Ms. Taylor said. “We should be cautious and keep up with it, but I don’t think it’s time to panic.”
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