Oil rigs in the North Sea. (Photo: tjodolv/ Flickr)
Brick council members joined the chorus of local officials opposing oil drilling off the New Jersey coastline, passing a resolution Tuesday against the proposal.
Drilling could end up occurring as close as three miles from shore, Mayor John Ducey said, explaining what prompted the council to act.
The resolution expressed the township’s “strong opposition” to drilling, “due to the high likelihood of substantial environmental impacts.”
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The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a federal agency tasked with overseeing the leases of federal waters to oil drilling, currently plans on accepting lease offers and awarding contracts between 2021 and 2023. Leases have not been offered for waters off New Jersey since 1983, and all previous drilling was exploratory in nature. A proposal by BOEM in 2016 to open the Atlantic coast to oil drilling ultimately failed in the face of public opposition.
The agency will host a meeting Feb. 14 in Hamilton Township to discuss the proposal. At the meetings, participants will be able to ask questions, share information, talk with BOEM team members one-on-one, and learn more about the national drilling proposal, an announcement from the agency said.
The public meeting will be held Feb. 14 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 800 US Highway 130, Hamilton, NJ 08690.
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