What happened: The Department of the Interior (DOI) issued hundreds of permits for oil drilling and seismic surveys without carrying out the scientific analyses required by law to assess the impact on marine mammals and endangered species.
Why it matters: The DOI undermined the science-based processes dictated in the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act by failing to carry out scientific analyses that measure the impact of offshore drilling activities on the wildlife. By untethering the issuance of seismic exploration permits, oil and gas land leases, drilling plans, and exploration plans from the best available science, DOI officials prioritized the needs of fossil fuel companies over the science-based ways of preventing detrimental population losses of marine mammals and endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico.
DOI officials authorized hundreds of offshore drilling activities in the Gulf of Mexico without carrying out scientific analyses that would help ensure that marine mammals and endangered species are not put into jeopardy from these oil and gas activities. Specifically, from January 2009 to May 2010, the DOI approved three oil and gas lease sales; 103 seismic exploration permits; 299 exploration plans; and 185 development operation drilling plans in the Gulf of Mexico. DOI officials issued these approvals without conducting scientific research that is required by law to assess whether such activities would unduly harm, harass, or kill marine mammals or endangered species.
Seismic exploration surveys are operations conducted by oil and gas companies to search for oil and research suggests that they can cause harm to several marine animals. Seismic surveys are loud enough to cause hearing loss in marine mammals, can interfere with feeding and breeding behaviors, and can disrupt the ability of whales, dolphins, and other cetaceans to communicate with one another. Drilling operations also has adverse effects on marine life, such as through pollution, vessel strikes, marine debris, and oil spills.
Both the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act prevent private entities like oil companies from killing, harming, or harassing certain species. If oil companies request permission from the DOI to carry out activities known to cause harm to marine mammals or endangered species, the DOI is required to conduct scientific analyses examining how the operations would affect these species. If the analysis shows that the risks are not too high and that the private entity is willing to take measures that would minimize the impact of their operations on these species, the DOI has the ability to authorize permits for the company to operate. However, DOI officials ignored the two laws and authorized permits without conducting the necessary scientific analyses to determine if marine life would be adversely affected. The DOI under the Obama administration undermined their science-based duties under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act and therefore failed to protect marine animals from the harmful effects of oil operations in hundreds of circumstances.