Conservation groups sue Trump administration over Atlantic oil testing

Source: Reuters

ENVIRONMENT DECEMBER 11, 2018 / 3:57 PM / UPDATED 21 MINUTES AGO

Conservation groups sue Trump administration over Atlantic oil testing

Harriet McLeod
3 MIN READ

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Environmental groups opposed to offshore drilling sued the federal government on Tuesday to prevent future seismic tests for oil and gas deposits in Atlantic waters off the U.S. East Coast.

Seismic testing, which uses air gun blasts, violates federal laws that protect marine mammals, endangered species, and national environmental policy, according the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston, South Carolina, against U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The U.S. fisheries service in November gave initial permission to five companies to conduct seismic airgun tests beneath a vast region off the East Coast. The permits allow marine wildlife to be harassed but not killed.

Conservationists say the testing, a precursor to oil drilling, can cause disorientation that leads to beachings of an endangered species, the North Atlantic right whale.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-drilling-lawsuit/conservation-groups-sue-trump-administration-over-atlantic-oil-testing-idUSKBN1OA2F2