Energy and Environment

Lawmakers spar over seismic testing for Atlantic Ocean drilling

By Zack Colman
Published January 10, 2014 5:00am ET
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Lawmakers spar over seismic testing for Atlantic Ocean drilling
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns that, "Increasing evidence suggests that exposure to intense underwater sound in some settings may cause certain marine mammals to strand and ultimately die." Oceana, citing federal projections, says seismic testing would injure 138,500 dolphins and whales through 2020. (Thinkstock Image) | Fuse

A long-awaited final federal study on the environmental impact of using seismic guns to search for oil and gas deposits off the Atlantic coast is due at the end of February, signaling future battles between Republicans and Democrats regarding offshore drilling.

The final environmental impact study on using seismic guns to explore for oil and gas from the Interior Department‘s Bureau of Ocean energy Management has been five years in the making, and will be used to inform decisions on whether to open the Atlantic Ocean to offshore oil and gas drilling.

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Interior NOAA Offshore Drilling Oil PennAve