Minutes 03/13/2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 13, 2018 Discussion:  State and regional officials and bodies, including Governor Northam and the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, have come out in strong opposition to the offshore exploration proposal.  The Department of Defense has expressed operational and mission-based concerns regarding offshore drilling.  A Deepwater Horizon-type disaster could devastate the tourism and commercial fishing industries, both vital pieces of the local economy, and could have catastrophic environmental impacts.  At the February 27, 2018 Public Work Session, City Council requested that the City Manager present a resolution opposing offshore oil and gas exploration at the March 13, 2018 City Council meeting. Financial impact:  None. Recommended Action:  Adoption of the resolution. Next Steps Following Council Action:  Copies of the resolution will be forwarded to the City’s federal and state legislative delegations. Motion by Mr. Smith, and seconded by Mr. Clark, to adopt the following resolution, and was adopted by the following vote: “RESOLUTION OPPOSING OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION, INCLUDING SEISMIC TESTING AND DRILLING. WHEREAS, on January 4, 2018 the U.S. Secretary of the Interior announced a draft proposal to lease areas off the Atlantic coast, including the coast of Virginia, for oil and gas exploratory testing and drilling; and WHEREAS, in 2010 a similar proposal was scheduled to proceed but was cancelled after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico starkly demonstrated the serious risks of offshore drilling; and WHEREAS, Governor Ralph S. Northam has announced Virginia’s opposition to the offshore drilling proposal, and has requested that areas off the coast of Virginia be exempted; and WHEREAS, on February 15, 2018 the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission unanimously approved a motion to take action in opposition to offshore drilling near the Virginia Coast and to request that the waters off the coast of Virginia be excluded from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s next iteration of the five year oil and gas leasing program; and WHEREAS, the Department of Defense has updated its 2010 findings on outer continental shelf oil and gas activities, noting new mission requirements, including expanded weapon and sensor footprints, and operational concerns in the Mid-Atlantic Planning Area that includes areas off Virginia’s coast; and WHEREAS, the City of Portsmouth highly values the United States Navy and Coast Guard and opposes any action that would make their mission more difficult; and WHEREAS, the tourism and commercial fishing industries are vital to the economies of Virginia and Hampton Roads, and both could be devastated by an offshore energy exploration catastrophe; and