Shaheen Blasts Administration’s Steps Towards Offshore Atlantic Drilling

**Shaheen: The Trump Administration is Laying the Groundwork for an Environmental Disaster on NH’s Seacoast**

(Washington, DC) — U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the lead Democrat of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, released the following statement after reports that the Trump administration will grant permits to companies for seismic tests in order to pursue oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic:

“The Trump Administration is laying the groundwork for an environmental disaster on New Hampshire’s Seacoast,” said Shaheen. “These seismic tests are an immediate threat to our fishing industry, in addition to the long-term threat to New Hampshire’s economy and outdoor recreation industry posed by an oil or gas leak from drilling. The environmental impact of this decision would be catastrophic, further depleting the whale population and many other species that we cherish and are important to our economy. I will do everything in my power to stop this permitting and any efforts to move forward with Atlantic drilling. The Senate should move quickly to consider legislation that I’ve cosponsored with Senator Booker to bar seismic testing in the Atlantic.”  

Senator Shaheen is a cosponsor of the Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act, a bill introduced by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) that would prohibit seismic geological activities in support of drilling on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. Shaheen urged the Trump administration to hold public hearings before granting these permits because of concern over the effects of seismic tests.