Dept. of Interior’s Finding of No Significant Impact from Deep Water Drilling after the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster

“Based on the catastrophic damage of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a finding of no potential for significant impact from deepwater exploration is unsupportable and therefore illegal. A finding of no significant environmental impact from deep water drilling is just a dressed up categorical exclusion.

“The Department of the Interior has failed to complete a comprehensive environmental impact statement on deepwater drilling since the BP disaster almost a year ago. Until a comprehensive environmental review of the risks of deep water drilling in light of the oil spill is complete, no exploration plans can be approved in deep waters of the Gulf without violating the National Environmental Policy Act.”

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The Southern Environmental Law Center is a regional nonprofit using the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC’s team of more than 40 legal and policy experts represent more than 100 partner groups on issues of climate change and energy, air and water quality, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use.
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