WILMINGTON, Del. — A coalition of attorneys general has intervened in a case before the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, which is attempting to block the federal government from permitting seismic testing.
The coalition, led by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and includes Delaware Attorney General Matthew Denn and eight other Atlantic Coast states' attorneys general, is fighting to stop private companies from being allowed to survey the floor of the Atlantic Ocean in search for oil and gas.
The coalition argues that the surveying, allowed by the National Marine Fishery Service, violates the Marine Mammals Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedures Act, according to Denn.
“Not only will the planned oil and gas surveys harm marine mammals in violation of federal law but they are another step toward allowing oil and gas drilling off the Delaware coast, something that would cause severe and irreparable harm to Delaware’s coastal and marine resources," Dunn said in a statement. "We are grateful to Maryland’s attorney general for leading this effort on behalf of states up and down the Atlantic Coast.
"Delawareans across party lines are united in their steadfast opposition to oil and gas drilling off Delaware’s coast. Senate Bill 207, expressing the state’s opposition to such drilling, passed by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in last year’s General Assembly.”