Seismic testing approved, moving South Carolina towards offshore drilling

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) - Offshore drilling is one step closer to reality and it’s created a lot of political noise along the East Coast.

On Friday, the National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, authorized permits for five companies to conduct seismic surveys in the mid-Atlantic Ocean.

It’s a move lawmakers and organizations like the Coastal Conservation League vow to fight.

“This extreme step by the federal government is essentially signaling progress on offshore oil and gas drilling,” said CCL’s Caitie Forde-Smith. Smith said the acoustic sound could be detrimental to marine life and a death sentence for endangered species.

“It’s a blast that would occur every ten or fifteen seconds for days, weeks, months at a time,” she said. “The noise and just the severe chaos that these ships are wreaking on our fragile ecosystem are incredibly destructive to marine mammals, specifically the North Atlantic Right Whale.”

Last month, Governor Henry McMaster maintained his opposition to offshore drilling, which was a major sticking point in the mid-term elections.

“It might okay for some other place, but not for South Carolina,” he said. “We’re right in Hurricane alley can you imagine an oil spill and a hurricane at the same time?”

South Carolina lawmakers took to Twitter to announce their stance on the announcement.

House Representative Leon Stavrinakis, District 119, called on McMaster to keep his word.

“I’ve had a bill in the legislature for a couple years and you know, if the governor really wants to put an end to this, it’s real simple, we pass that bill or one similar to it and it becomes functionally impossible for anyone to bring offshore drilling to South Carolina coast,” Stavrinakis said during a phone interview Friday evening. “We can’t sit around and risk our coast, so the time for talk is over and it’s time to pass something that sends a clear message that this isn’t what we want for South Carolina and we’re not going to accept it.”

District One Congressman-elect Joe Cunningham also weighed in on his disappointment and promise to push for legislative action.

The actual permitting process will likely take several weeks and will be followed by a public review process. The Coastal Conservation League said they will take legal action if necessary.