Science

Offshore Oil Drilling Could Come To Georgia

January 27th, 2015

Oil and natural gas development could be coming to the Georgia coast. The Obama administration released a new proposal for offshore drilling Tuesday. For the first time in decades, the Atlantic coast could be an option for exploration.

“When it comes to considering leasing on the Atlantic, we need more information,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “We’re interested in learning more about the resource potential, as well as the potential conflicts with the environment and other uses.”

In the plan, the lease in the Atlantic would come up for sale in 2021.

“We’d love to have the opportunity to go out there and do some surveying off the coast of Georgia, as well as the Carolinas and Virginia, and see if there’s any resources to be taken,” said Hunter Hopkins, executive director of the Georgia Petroleum Council.

Oil and gas drilling would bring a whole new industry to Georgia, and the jobs and state revenue that come with it, said Hopkins.

Revenue is just one of the things that would need to be worked out, said Senator Johnny Isakson.

“The devil’s in the details,” Isakson said. “You want to make sure that there’s no negative impact on the recreational economy on the coast of Georgia. You want to make sure there’s no interference with the military bases in Georgia.”

The rigs — if there ever are any — would be 50 miles off the coast, not visible from Georgia beaches. But opponents say the real problem is the risk to the environment.

“You can see what happened along the Gulf Coast and we just do not want to see that happening on the pristine Georgia coast or anywhere in the Southeast,” said Bill Sapp, an attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Sapp says compared to other parts of the country, there’s not much oil or gas off Georgia’s coast.

The proposal is open for public comment.