November 17, 2016 — WASHINGTON — Oil and gas exploration in the U.S. waters of the Atlantic Ocean may put some legacy economic interests at risk, a consortium of area businesses said.
More than 10,000 business and hundreds of thousands of families tied to commercial fishing sent a letter through an Atlantic Coast business alliance to President Barack Obama urging him to hold off on expanding access to potential drillers.
Energy companies use seismic surveys to get a better understanding of the oil and gas reserve potential and some groups have expressed concern that action could have a detrimental impact on marine ecosystems. Seismic research could interfere with normal communication patterns for some marine species, though contractors said the impacts are temporary.
The consortium said in their letter to the White House that seismic work could disrupt the 1.4 million area jobs and the $95 billion in economic activity tied to regional fishing, tourism and recreation.