New York: New Jersey announced on Wednesday the date for a public hearing on proposals by the US government to allow offshore oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic.
The hearing, in Atlantic City, will be held on March 18. Wednesday’s announcement came two days after a group of a dozen Senate Democrats from east coast states wrote a letter to the Department of the Interior protesting the plans.
In a prepared joint statement, congressman Frank Pallone, a New Jersey member of the House of Representatives, said: “Oil drilling in the Atlantic would put New Jersey’s shore communities and our state’s economy at significant risk. Residents and business owners who will be most seriously impacted must make sure that their voices are heard loud and clear.”
Senator Bob Menendez shared fears of risk to the economy, saying: “I believe the Atlantic Coast should be off limits to oil and gas drilling because the consequences to our environment and our economy of a spill would be devastating.”
