Hundreds In Small Coastal Town Protest Seismic Testing For Oil

Hundreds of people descended Monday night on Kure Beach Town Hall, standing for more than two hours in the meeting room and parking lot, waiting for a chance to protest Mayor Dean Lambeth’s decision to sign a letter endorsing seismic testing for oil and gas off the North Carolina coast.

“I ask you to rescind your endorsement of seismic testing,” said Joanne Durham, a Kure Beach resident. “I think when you signed this letter you weren’t expecting this turn-out tonight … we really weren’t represented by our mayor in this decision.”

The Obama Administration has expressed interest in opening the Atlantic Coast to seismic testing, a process that uses air guns to determine whether oil and gas deposits are located beneath the ocean floor. The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a series of public hearings on the matter in Wilmington last year, but has yet to release an environmental impact statement. The mayor’s letter of support for testing, signed in December, was penned by America’s Energy Forum, a lobbying group backed by the American Petroleum Institute. Lambeth said the group approached him with the letter after he attended several of its seminars.

That decision sparked outcry from local residents and conservationists, who said Lambeth introduced the letter at the town council’s December meeting without adequate public notice. In response, Lambeth arranged for speakers – one representing the American Petroleum Institute and one from Echo Friendly Action, a Wilmington nonprofit dedicated to stopping seismic testing and offshore drilling – to address the town council at its meeting Monday. The mayor also moved the public comment period from the beginning of the meeting to the end, which residents took as an attempt to silence their protests. Mayor Pro Tem Craig Bloszinsky said the scheduling change was simply to finish town business at a reasonable hour and to give speakers a chance to listen and base their comments on the information in the two presentations.

Hours before the 6:30 p.m. meeting, hundreds of people, many wearing matching blue Oceana T-shirts, filled the town hall meeting room and overflowed into the parking lot. Commissioner David Heglar warned the crowd early in the evening that the number of people in the building was in violation of the fire code and that the police would be called if things got out of hand. But the admonishment did little to quell the audience, which cheered and pounded on the walls after statements from opponents of seismic testing and booed whenever the mayor defended his support of the process. Lambeth repeatedly pounded his gavel and asked the crowd outside to quiet down, prompting Surfrider Foundation Chair Ethan Crouch to point out that moving up the public comment period might successfully diminish the outbursts.

“No. You be quiet, too,” Lambeth replied.

The discussion opened with a presentation from Brady Bradshaw, campaign coordinator for Echo Friendly Action, who detailed the potential environmental consequences of seismic testing, particularly negative effects to marine life. Those risks – particularly the potential disruption to migrating North Atlantic right whales, loggerhead sea turtles and other species, including red drum – are sticking points for opponents of seismic testing, who argue that the unknowns of the process far outweigh any potential economic benefits.

“We never know what the ecosystem impacts are with something like this until it’s too late,” Bradshaw said. “With so much unknown … I ask you to reconsider your support for seismic testing.”

Lambeth had said previously that his main reason for signing the letter of support was the potential that seismic testing leases could generate revenue to help the town fund future beach nourishment projects. But in response to questioning from Commissioner Emilie Swearingen, a representative from American Petroleum Institute said during his presentation that profits would only be generated for the town if seismic testing lead to offshore drilling.

“I never claimed that seismic testing actually gives money,” said Albert Eckel, speaking on behalf of the lobbying group. “Seismic testing is a process toward offshore exploration … a process with royalties that can flow toward beach renourishment.”

More than 50 people signed up to address the council, many echoing those concerns. Others told Lambeth they were specifically uncomfortable with his decision to sign a letter on behalf of the town without first asking residents how they felt about his position.

“The majority of the town that you represent opposes seismic testing,” said Rebecca Shaw, a Kure Beach resident whose 9-year-old daughter also spoke against the process. “Are you willing to sell your soul for this? Because that’s the bottom line. You’re selling your soul.”

But Heglar pointed out that Lambeth sent the letter on his own behalf, not on town letterhead and without a supporting resolution from the council.

“The mayor, just like each of us, is allowed to have an opinion,” he said. “He sent a letter in his name, not on town letterhead. The mayor is taking a stance, which I tried to dissuade him from, but that’s his right as an individual.”

Heglar also said he was against the idea of the council debating the issue formally or penning a resolution, whether to support or oppose seismic testing.

“I don’t think we have any weigh-in, as a beach town, as a council, on the issue. It’s a federal issue,” he said. “Just like I don’t think the council should weigh in on abortion, or voting rights … the council should operate in the space of the local community.”

After more than two hours of public comment – all but a few speakers opposing seismic testing – the council adjourned with little discussion. Lambeth did not address the crowd but said after the meeting that he thought it had gone “very well.”

“We had this discussion because council wanted it,” he said. “Most of these people never read the letter or knew anything about it. That letter was to me, and I brought it before council to make sure it was OK to use the mayor moniker. It’s done.”