Green groups - Texas coast drilling imperils turtles
Date: 25-Nov-02
Country: USA
The Parks Service decision is in step with the Bush administration's national energy plan to increase domestic oil and natural gas supplies, make more public lands accessible to drilling and speed up exploration permits.
However, conservation groups said BNP's drilling activity would threaten popular vacation beaches and the nearby nesting areas of endangered sea turtles.
Up to 18 wells could be drilled within Padre Island under BNP's plan, creating traffic on the Gulf Coast beach that could crush or kill sea turtles and their eggs, the environmentalists said.
"People and marine life that use Padre Island will be put at great risk in a rush to sink wells because of Bush administration policies designed to speed up drilling without careful consideration of its impact on the environment," said Randall Rasmussen, acting director of the National Parks Conservation Association's southwest regional office.
"The beach at Padre Island is starting to look more like the Jersey Turnpike than a National Park," said Fred Richardson, spokesman for the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter.
"Most Americans believe that there are places that ought to be protected and kept for the public, but, unfortunately, the Bush administration is out of touch with those values," Richardson added.
Currently, Padre Island has two active wells, one of which was owned by Corpus Christi-based BNP Petroleum. When BNP drilled its well earlier this year, there was heavy truck track along 15 miles of the beach for five months.
Environmentalists fear the heavy trucks will create deep ruts and prevent the turtles from crossing the beach and establishing their nests.
Congress established the 67-mile long Padre Island National Seashore in 1962, but specified that mineral rights must remain with private individuals and the State of Texas.
Environmentalists said Congress never envisioned that the only access for oil and gas rigs and drilling equipment along most of the island would be the park's Gulf Coast beach.
