U.S. members of Congress want Bahamas govt to prevent BPC from drilling for oil

Sixteen members of Congress in the United States want U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to ask The Bahamas government to deny Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) the necessary approvals to drill for oil and let its current licenses expire.

In a letter to Pompeo and Stephanie Bowers, chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, the congressional members wrote, “We urge you to do what you can to protect our shared resources and both of our countries’ beautiful beaches by urging the Bahamian government to deny BPC any necessary or additional authorizations for offshore drilling and to let these licenses expire.”

In 2019, BPC received government approval to work toward drilling an exploratory oil well before the end of 2020. The company has sought to drill for oil in The Bahamas from as far back as 2011.

The company said it will be drilling in waters in the southern Bahamas that are almost 1,700 feet deep, drilling its well to a depth of 15,800 feet.

However, last month, BPC said it had pushed its timeline down to mid-May as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the letter, which is dated April 17, 2020, the congressional members said, “As coastal and near-coastal members of Congress who have been fighting for years to protect the Atlantic Ocean, Straits of Florida and Eastern Gulf of Mexico from the threat of expanded offshore drilling in U.S. waters, this news is cause for great concern.

“As the representatives of Florida and East Coast communities, we respectfully ask you to join us in protecting the shared coastal economies and ecosystems of the United States and The Bahamas from offshore drilling by advocating to the Bahamian government that it should deny BPC any authorizations necessary to begin exploratory drilling.”

They noted that oil spills “unfortunately…do not respect state or national boundaries”.

“Since the exploratory drilling proposed for next month is only 150 miles from Florida’s coast, and another license area is only 50 miles from Miami, oil slicks from BPC’s drilling activities could affect any Bahamian island as well as the East Coast of the United States,” the congressional members said.

“Oil is toxic to marine life and a spill in Bahamian waters could quickly damage vibrant corals, kill off seagrass beds and coat important mangrove ecosystems, which are important carbon sinks.”

The letter is signed by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Kathy Castor, Matt Gaetz, Donna E. Shalala, Lois Frankel, Darren Soto, Charlie Crist, Theodore E. Deutch, Francis Rooney, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Alcee L. Hastings, David E. Price, Tom Malinowski, Al Lawson and Christopher H. Smith.

When contacted for response yesterday, BPC CEO Simon Potter said, “BPC has licences to explore in Bahamian maritime waters adjacent to The Bahamas – Cuba border.

“BPC will operate strictly within the laws and regulations as set out by the Bahamian sovereign government. Any material oil discovery would introduce to The Bahamas a new industry capable of expanding the Bahamian economy, bringing significant revenue receipts, jobs and wealth.”

‘Learn from our tragedy’

The congressional members said the introduction of offshore drilling in The Bahamas “goes directly against recent efforts” to expand The Bahamas National Protected Areas System, which works to preserve marine habitats and protect Bahamian resources.

“It would be unfortunate to bring environmental risk to these marine sites with the prospect of oil pollution as they provide critical ecosystem benefits like food security and coastal protection,” they noted.

“A healthy ocean is the foundation of a coastal way of life in both the United States and The Bahamas. Coastal communities thrive when there is a healthy marine environment. Introducing the threat of an offshore drilling disaster would threaten that foundation.

“We respectfully request that you convey our concerns to the government of The Bahamas to protect the beauty, the ecosystems and the economies of The Bahamas and the entire East Coast of the United States from the threat of dirty and dangerous offshore drilling.”

The congressional members said the Bahamian government “should learn from our tragedy” of the 2010 explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

“This disaster claimed 11 lives and set off one of the worst environmental disasters in our nation’s history,” they wrote.

“As more than 200 million gallons of oil gushed into the gulf, fragile marine ecosystems were destroyed, tourism declined throughout the region and consumer confidence in seafood dropped.”

The congressional members added, “We understand that the Bahamian people rely on a clean and healthy coast since tourism is an important economic driver. A 2014 study found that travel and tourism contributed more than 40 percent of The Bahamas’ GDP.

“The coastal communities we represent rely on a similar way of life. Our constituents are people who work in the tourism industry, fishers who are dependent on abundant catches and business owners with coastal properties.

“No matter the size of your coastal community or business, the concern is the same: expanding offshore drilling is not worth the risk.”

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/04/20/u-s-members-of-congress-want-bahamas-govt-to-prevent-bpc-from-drilling-for-oil/