BOEMRE Completes Draft Supplemental
EIS for Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale
Public Comment Period will
Include Meetings in Houston and New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement
(BOEMRE) announced today the completion of a draft supplemental
environmental impact statement (SEIS) for proposed
oil and gas Lease Sale 218 in the Western Planning Area in
the Gulf of Mexico. This draft SEIS updates the findings in several
previously published EISs covering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as
new analyses using the latest available information following the
Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill.
“The analyses published in this SEIS
will allow us to make objective, science-based decisions about the
activities involved in offshore energy exploration, development and
production,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich. “The public
hearings on the draft SEIS we are announcing today are key steps to
obtain public input on the environmental impact of oil and gas
operations after Deepwater Horizon.”
The draft SEIS can
be accessed at
http://www.gomr.boemre.gov/homepg/regulate/environ/nepa/nepaprocess.html.
Comments will be used to
prepare the Final SEIS for Sale 218.
Two
public meetings will be held to give all interested parties an
opportunity to comment on the draft SEIS. The meetings are scheduled
as follows:
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Houston, Texas: Tuesday, May 17, 2011,
Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush Intercontinental,
18700 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77032,
beginning at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. CDT.
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New Orleans, Louisiana: Thursday, May 19,
2011, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and
Enforcement, 1201, Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans,
Louisiana 70123, beginning at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. CDT. |
Federal, state and local government agencies, and
other interested parties are requested to send their comments on the
SEIS no later than June 6, 2011, by email to
WPA Supplemental EIS@boemre.gov or by mail addressed, “Comments
on the WPA Draft SEIS,” to Gary D. Goeke, Chief, Environmental
Assessment Section, Leasing and Environment (MS 5410), Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, Gulf of Mexico
OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana
70123-2394.
Contact: BOEMRE
Public Affairs-GULF