THIRD CIRCUIT RULED THAT SEISMIC BLASTING CAN PROCEED

From Clean Ocean Action:

Friends, 

I'm sorry to say that the Third Circuit Court ruled today that the seismic survey can proceed.  Please see Clean Ocean Action's statement below.

Of course now our job is to monitor and catalog what we see.  If you see it, report it!  If you are at the beach or on the water and you see distressed animals (i.e. dead fish or stranded marine mammals), report the incident using these simple steps:

1. Record the information – record the date, time and location and take photos!
2.  Report the incident – call Clean Ocean Action at 732-872-0111 or email at education@cleanoceanaction.org to let us know what you saw! If you see a stranded marine mammal, call the Marine Mammal Stranding Center at 609-266-0538.

Thank you for your hard work this summer protecting New Jersey marine life.

Best,
Lauren Townsend, Clean Ocean Action

****

Third Circuit Court Rules Seismic Survey Can Proceed

The brief reprieve marine life had from seismic blasting off the Jersey Shore appears to be over.  Today, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have temporarily stopped the seismic survey being conducted off the coast of New Jersey.  NJDEP filed the request last Thursday on an emergent basis, seeking to reverse the District Court’s denial of an injunction last Tuesday.  The preliminary injunction would have remained in effect for the duration of the litigation and until the District Court ruled on the merits of NJDEP’s claims.

Upon learning of the Third Circuit’s decision today, Cindy Zipf, the Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action, stated, "This is a very disappointing decision for marine life and for those who depend on a clean and healthy ocean.  It is upsetting that the blasting of our ocean be allowed to continue during the legal challenge.  COA is confident that the State will eventually prevail in court because the State and its citizens were denied important opportunities to review the proposal.  However, that decision will come too late to save a single creature from this project.”

Clean Ocean Action had filed an amicus brief with the Third Circuit last Thursday, urging the Court to grant the injunction in order to prevent any harm to marine life and to commercial and recreational users of the vast project area.  COA stressed to the Court the public interest in this litigation.

The litigation will now return to the District Court where the federal court will ultimately decide if federal agencies violated the law in denying NJDEP’s request to conduct a federal consistency review of the project, and in denying the public an opportunity to review the final environmental assessment of the project by its primary funder, the National Science Foundation.  But for now, the Rutgers-led survey — which will send seismic blasts into the ocean every 5 seconds, 24 hours a day, for the next 30 days -- may now resume.  That is, provided the research vessel, the Marcus G. Langseth, proves to be seaworthy.  Last Wednesday, the ship returned to port for “necessary repairs,” court papers revealed. 

####