Sunday, December 3, 2023
By Coastal Review on December 28, 2018
A display in Nags Head shows a ship towing airguns, in detail. (Voice)
North Carolinaās Attorney General Josh Stein, along with attorneys general from Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia and New York have moved to take their own action stop the proposed use of airguns to survey the Atlantic Ocean floor for oil and gas.
āNorth Carolinaās beautiful coastline supports tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity,ā said Stein in a statement. āThat is why I am fighting this move to take our state one step closer to offshore drilling. I will continue to do everything in my power to protect our stateās coast.ā
A lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service, or NMFS, and federal officials was filed last week in South Carolina by a coalition of local and national non-governmental organizations.
āIn moving to intervene on the side of the organizations, the attorneys general are seeking to file their own complaint on behalf of their respective states,” according to the announcement.
The seismic testing surveys is one step closer to allowing offshore drilling, āAn action that would result in severe and potentially irreparable harm to our coastline and its critically important tourism and fishing economy,ā the release continued.
Five private companies applied in 2014 and 2015 to the U.S. Interior Departmentās Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, for permits to use air guns for seismic testing to search for oil and gas on the Atlantic Ocean floor.
In July 2017, Stein urged the NMFS to deny the incidental harassment authorization, or IHA, applications.
NMFS granted the companiesā applications for IHAs in November 2018. In challenging the grant of the IHAs, the coalition of attorneys general charges that approval of the permits violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedure Act.
Meanwhile, Bipartisan governors along the coast Thursday urged Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to prohibit seismic testing and offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Gov. Roy Cooper along with Democratic and Republican governors of states along the Atlantic Coast sent a letter Thursday urging the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Commerce to deny all permit applications for seismic testing, exclude the waters off the East Coast from the 2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for offshore drilling, avoid issuing further IHAs for seismic airgun surveys and prevent any future offshore drilling efforts in the Atlantic Ocean, according to an announcement from the governorās office.
The letter was signed by Cooper, Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Gov. John Carney of Delaware, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, Gov. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut, Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia and Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island.
The decision follows months of vocal opposition from states along the East Coast, which have repeatedly urged the federal government to protect coastal tourism and fisheries by halting seismic testing and offshore drilling.
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Bid Location and Time: Bid opening will be held in the Barnhill Contracting Rocky Mount Training & GPS Technology Room: 800 Tiffany Bvld, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. Time is as follows: January 09, 2024 at 10:00am and 2:00pm. Times per packages to be given on via addendum #01.
Barnhill Contracting Company will receive, open, and read publicly all bids received in person in the Training & GPS Technology Room at the main office and listed with the virtual viewing at the link to be posted on Barnhill’s Plan Room.
Bids will not be accepted from bidders that are not pre-qualified. No facsimile or email submissions are permitted. Sealed bids are to be hand delivered to the bid opening location noted above or mailed Sealed Bids can be delivered before 9:00am the day of the bid to the Barnhill Contracting Company Office at 800 Tiffany Blvd., Suite 200 Rocky Mount, NC 27804. Attention āClint Hardison.ā
The pre-bid meeting will be held in Person & Zoom Meeting on December 06, 2023 at 10:00 am at the Barnhill Contracting’s Rocky Mount Main Conference Room: 800 Tiffany Bvld, Rocky Mount, NC 27804.
The pre-bid meeting link can be located on Barnhill’s online Building Division Plan Room ( https://app.buildingconnected.com/public/54da832ce3edb5050017438b) and below. A preferred brand alternates meeting will be held via the same link at the end of the Prebid meeting.
Bid Documents can be viewed or downloaded through Barnhill’s online Building Division Plan Room (https://app.buildingconnected.com/public/54da832ce3edb5050017438b) after 12/04/2023.
All Bidders are strongly encouraged to include opportunities for HUB participation wherever possible in their respective Bid submission.Ā HUB participation is a part of this contract and must comply with all requirements set forth in the Bid Documents.
The Construction Manager and Owner reserve the right to add pre-qualified bidders. The Construction Manager and Owner reserve the right to reject any and all bids. Should you require additional direction, please call Barnhill Contracting Company, (Clint Hardison – 252-802-0740).
Clint Hardison is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Dare EMS – Phase 2 Pre-Bid Conference
Time: Dec 6, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://barnhillcontracting.zoom.us/j/82390692985
Meeting ID: 823 9069 2985
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Comments
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Seal
Three miles out is the limit to state jurisdiction !!!
Good Luck with that !!!
Sans
āNorth Carolinaās beautiful coastline supports tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity,ā
What does more harm? Seismic testing or the hundreds of thousands people occupying the barrier islands?
CorollaCat
First, no air guns. Second, like I ALWAYS say, everybody calm down.
sean
https://youtube/5zLUTJOoB8k this is a video of unc showing what seismic testing does. If it doesn’t come up look it up on YouTube it has terrible results don’t care if it’s state fed or international waters.