Comment from Anonymous
Anonymous AnonymousOpposeIndividual
Summary: An individual commenter opposes the proposal to open more than 2,700 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean offshore Virginia for commercial seabed mineral leasing. They argue that industrial mining poses significant threats to marine habitats, endangered species, and local fisheries and tourism economies.
I urge BOEM to discontinue consideration of commercial seabed mineral leasing offshore Virginia. This proposal to open up more than 2,700 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean for industrial mining poses a grave threat to marine habitat, endangered and threatened species, and our local fisheries and tourism economies. Virginia's offshore waters and the Chesapeake Bay support an extraordinary diversity of wildlife that would be adversely affected by seabed mining. Commercial seabed mining at this scale has never been conducted in U.S. federal waters. Given the significant scientific uncertainty and the potential for long-lasting environmental damage, BOEM should not move forward with this proposal.