Oil Rig Explodes in Gulf Of Mexico

What does this have to do with Delaware you ask?  Everything, because tomorrow night there is a meeting in Dover basically about permits for seismic testing and drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.  Despite what you may think about drilling, oil spills etc.  This is obviously not a very safe thing to do at sea especially for the 4 people who were killed in this explosion, and who knows what environmental damage will occur.   Details of the fire can be found here from the Business Insider.   Tomorrow night’s meeting is a public listening session and I suggest if you have the time, you attend, listen, and comment.  This is what the meetings we have attended over the past year about the stakeholders and user groups for the Atlantic Ocean, the Mid Atlantlic Regional Planning Body.  

DNREC press release …

DOVER (March 26, 2015) – The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will host two open houses Thursday, April 2 in Delaware to share information on the geological and geophysical (G&G) permitting process on the Atlantic Coast. Meetings scheduled throughout the Atlantic states will provide an overview of the G&G process and allow the public an opportunity to ask questions and comment. Delaware’s sessions will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1706 North DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901 from 3 – 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. 

The meetings will feature information stations with BOEM experts on hand to discuss G&G issues. Attendees are encouraged to provide handwritten or electronic comments at the open house. All G&G applications for Atlantic permitting will be available for public review and comment on the regulations.govwebsite beginning March 30. All deep penetration seismic applications will be open for a period of 30 calendar days and all others will be open for 10 days.

Representatives from DNREC’s Delaware Coastal Programs also will be at the open house sessions to provide information on the state’s role in the permitting process.

To learn more about the Atlantic G&G process, please visit www.boem.gov/Atlantic-G-and-G-Permitting.