Local Contingent Expresses Concerns Over Proposed Offshore Drilling

OCEAN CITY — There were more questions than answers this week when a large contingent from the Lower Shore joined dozens of others at a public meeting in Annapolis on Monday on the federal government’s proposed lease of a vast area off the mid-Atlantic coast for offshore oil and natural gas drilling.

In January, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced a proposal to lease 2.9 million acres of ocean off the coast off the mid-Atlantic coast for oil and natural gas exploration, and, eventually, excavation. As part of the Obama Administration’s strategy to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Department of the Interior, through BOEM, announced the proposed lease program off the mid-Atlantic coast and opened a public comment period to allow citizens to weigh in on the proposal.

In addition to the public comment period, BOEM is conducting a series of public meetings up and down the east coast to present the proposal and accept public comments and answer questions in person. On Monday, a public meeting was held in Annapolis to allow Marylanders and others to voice their concerns.

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