Marin coastal areas face threat from offshore drilling, report says.

June 04, 2018

A new report says areas of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore face potential environmental damage from the specter of offshore drilling by the Trump administration.

In January, the Trump administration announced a proposal to allow drilling in most U.S. continental-shelf waters. At the time, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke specified 47 potential areas where energy companies would be allowed to purchase leases between 2019 and 2024, including off the California Coast.

“A radical departure from long standing policy, Secretary Zinke’s proposed plan opens every possible coast for drilling, including vast new areas in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and around Florida and Alaska’s coasts, none of which have seen drilling in decades, if ever,” reads the report by the National Parks Conservation Association issued last month. “The plan could be devastating: offshore drilling could ruin fisheries; soil the habitats and migratory pathways of whales and dolphins; threaten coastal communities with industrialized coastlines and catastrophic spills; and exacerbate climate change.”

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said the threat of drilling off the Marin and California coast is real.

“It’s still in play. We have yet to hear their decision on their leasing plan,” Huffman said. “With this administration you have to assume the worst. They will keep their finger on the scale in favor of oil and gas exploration. Anyone who assumes the coast is not under threat is naive. But if this goes through it will be fought at every turn.”

In Marin, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Point Reyes National Seashore, as well as Fort Point at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge are noted in the report as areas that could face peril.

“In Point Reyes National Seashore alone, nearly 500 different bird species have been spotted,” the report states.

Barbara Salzman, president of Marin Audubon, voiced concern about potential drilling.

“It’s appalling, just the thought of it,” she said. “We have so many important species and sensitive areas along our coast. The potential loss and damage environmentally is staggering.”

The impact of drilling could affect more than the environment. National parks along California’s coast have $995 million in economic output, provide 9,761 jobs and see 26.3 million annual visitors.

An oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969 spewed about 4.2 million gallons of oil into the ocean, devastating recreation, property, the fishing industry and wildlife. Drilling off the California coast in state waters has been banned since.

The effect of an oil spill was seen along Marin’s coast more recently in 2007 when the Cosco Busan oil tanker slammed into the Bay Bridge. The container ship spilled 54,000 gallons of bunker fuel, forcing authorities to close Fort Baker, Rodeo Beach, Kirby Cove, Black Sand, Tennessee Valley and Angel Island beaches.

In all, the Nov. 7, 2007 accident oiled 69 miles of shoreline around the Bay Area, closed fisheries and killed more than 6,800 birds, while soiling wildlife habitat.

But those who back drilling say economic opportunities are being missed by not seeking out gas and oil reserves. Zinke has said that the Obama administration cost the United States billions of dollars in lost revenue by blocking drilling on about 94 percent of the outer continental shelf.

But the National Parks Conservation Association sees peril in its report, “Spoiled Parks: The Threat To Our Coastal National Parks from Expanded Offshore Drilling.”

“America’s coastal national parks, from Maine to Florida, California to Alaska, could face serious repercussions from the Trump Administration’s misguided plan,” the report states.


Source: by Mark Prado