boem's scoping meeting on the development of an eis held ......jun 17, 2013 · 15 marine...

Deposition of Public Meeting

Nell McCallum & Associates, Houston Inc. Page: 1

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9 BOEM's Scoping Meeting on

10 The Development of an EIS

11 Held in Galveston, Texas

12 June 17, 2013

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24 Court Reporter: Rhonda Russo, CSR

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1 (6:31 p.m.)

2 MR. GOEKE: Good evening. We're going to

3 go on the record, please. My name is Gary Goeke. I'm

4 the chief of the Environmental Assessment Section with

5 the Bureau of Ocean Engineer Management in New Orleans.

6 I'm fighting a cold as you can no doubt hear. So, if my

7 voice squeaks out every now and then, please bear with

8 me.

9 Sitting with me this evening is Andrea

10 Heckman. Andrea is one of our staff in New Orleans

11 working on the document that we're going to be discussing

12 tonight, and we have a number of other BOEM employees who

13 are around this evening.

14 And let me tell you I appreciate y'all

15 coming out this evening. This is the best turnout that

16 we've had. As you can see from the schedule that we have

17 up on the screen, we've been traveling quite a bit

18 lately. We've had relatively light turnout. This is the

19 best turnout we've had, and I appreciate all of you

20 coming out this evening.

21 Andrea is going to run the projector

22 for me because we found out that our little remote is not

23 quite as reliable as we wish it was.

24 All right. Andrea, let's get started.

25 We are here this evening to talk about



1 the preparation of an EIS for geological and geophysical

2 activities in the Gulf of Mexico. There are two agencies

3 involved -- the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which

4 our -- which we represent primarily and as you can see up

5 here we have the mandate that our agency has and some of

6 our primary purposes. And the other -- we have a co-lead

7 with us this evening. Working on the EIS is National

8 Marine Fishery Service. National Marine Fishery Service

9 will use some of the information that we are going to

10 publish in the document to help fulfill the obligations

11 that their agency has.

12 This is the BOEM's Congressional

13 mandate. The agency, although we are moderately new,

14 we've been around for a while in the former agency,

15 Minerals Management Service. So, while our agency has

16 only been here for a couple of years, we do have

17 authorities that date back to 1954.

18 What we're going to be talking about is

19 the preparation of an environmental impact statement.

20 EIS's are built under the auspices of the National

21 Environmental Policy Act, also known as NEPA; and we

22 generally refer to it as NEPA. NEPA is the act that

23 created the mandate for Federal agencies to work and

24 create a systematic evaluation of their proposed

25 actions.



1 The development of an EIS is a fairly

2 lengthy process. We're anticipating that it will take a

3 couple of years, two to two and a half years, to create

4 the document that we're here to discuss tonight. We're

5 at the very beginning of this process known as the

6 scoping process; but the EIS has many steps. We lay out

7 all of these different issues in a step-wise fashion, and

8 one by one we step through these processes.

9 We are at the very beginning of this

10 two-and-a-half year process here. The very first part of

11 the process is to prepare what's known as a notice of

12 intent to prepare an EIS. That is something where we --

13 that we publish in the Federal register, we put out

14 information, and we let everybody know that we're going

15 to be preparing the document and what the topic is.

16 Generally we identify just a topic; and

17 the purpose of the scoping meeting, which is where we are

18 now -- the purpose of the scoping meeting is to define

19 the nature and the scope of the EIS that we're going to

20 be addressing, and that's what we're looking and we're

21 seeking comments for from everyone on how big the EIS is

22 and what the issues are that we should cover.

23 So, that's why we're here tonight, to

24 receive comments from anyone who may be interest, to

25 receive comments on what your thoughts may be as to the



1 nature of the document, some of the various things that

2 we examine in our document, and we're going to step

3 through this and I'm going to try and give you a little

4 bit of information about how we do this and some of the

5 different things we look at to sort of get your thoughts

6 on those.

7 One of the things that everybody needs

8 to understand is our agency is one agency that works on

9 the Outer Continental Shelf and there are a lot of

10 required consultations under NEPA. The National

11 Environmental Policy Act is an umbrella law that tells us

12 you have to consider all of the applicable Federal laws,

13 and you have to do consultations with all of the

14 different agencies. This deals with everywhere from the

15 Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Coastal Zone Management

16 Act, Endangered Species, Tribal Consultations, a whole

17 variety of things. So, you can imagine that it takes

18 quite a bit of time to step through these processes.

19 But the topic that we're really here to

20 talk about tonight is seismic surveys and the creation of

21 an EIS looking at seismic surveys. This is a cartoon

22 sketch that sort of gives a rough idea of what a seismic

23 survey is. In real simple terms, a seismic survey is

24 putting an impulse of energy into the water that travels

25 through the water, reflects off the sea floor and travels



1 back up to different sets of receivers. And by the speed

2 of the sound and the conditions of the water, the

3 conditions of the sea floor, we can draw a picture. We

4 can get an idea of the types of sediments and

5 stratigraphy under the sea floor.

6 There are four primary purposes in the

7 Gulf of Mexico for why seismic operations are performed.

8 In oil and gas, seismic is obviously very important for

9 locating and identifying potential sources and traps of

10 petroleum products.

11 In the biological resource and

12 submerged culture identification, there are a lot of

13 seismic testing that we can use to remotely set up sea

14 floor types to determine whether they're hard sea floors,

15 whether they may have the potential for chemosynethetics

16 and a number of other things like corals and things like

17 this.

18 We also use seismic actions for

19 renewable energy. One of the things that you have to

20 think about is if you're going to be setting up a wind

21 farm and say you are putting 300 towers in the sea floor,

22 you need to know that you have a stable, solid sea floor

23 to put your monopiles into. So, the seismic is important

24 in that.

25 And also, for marine minerals



1 investigations. When we have hurricanes that move

2 through, when we have coastal erosion in Louisiana, when

3 we have a variety of things that we use offshore minerals

4 to renourish the beach or to build dune systems or when

5 super storm Sandy comes through, these are the types of

6 things that we use seismic to locate sand resources so

7 that we can go in and help restore the beaches.

8 There are a bewildering variety of

9 G & G types of activities as we have folks in the

10 audience who can attest to this. It is -- and our EIS

11 it's going to be an -- it's going to be a job to try and

12 tease things apart, to address them individually but to

13 address them -- lump them together and things like this.

14 Some of these are dramatically different -- in

15 geophysical and in geological, some of these are

16 dramatically different from each other so that we need to

17 be able to put them together, the ones that have similar

18 types of potential impacts.

19 And there are some of things that have

20 very low impacts; but we're going to list them all, we're

21 going to step through them in a step-wise fashion and

22 make sure that we address them all.

23 The area of interest for our EIS that

24 we're going to be putting together is the entire northern

25 Gulf of Mexico. Our agency has responsibilities on the



1 entire Outer Continental Shelf; and if you follow the

2 white line all the way around, that's the area that we're

3 going to be following. Now, National Marine Fisheries,

4 of course, has responsibilities that go inside into state

5 waters. So, our agency has only authorizations on -- in

6 the Federal waters; but National Marine Fisheries has

7 them up in the coastal waters. So, the EIS will go

8 closer to shores than most of our documents have in the

9 past.

10 The purpose of the EIS is to assess the

11 potential environmental effects of the

12 geological/geophysical survey techniques that are used on

13 the Outer Continental Shelf. As I said, this is going to

14 take a while; and we have -- we have been doing

15 environmental impact statements for a number of years.

16 So, we have an idea of the resources that we're going to

17 be looking at. We have a good idea of what the potential

18 impacting factors may be. So, I want to step through

19 those for you and get your thoughts and see if you have

20 any reaction to those types.

21 The need for the programmatic as I

22 mentioned before, BOEM has an obligation to permit G & G

23 activities and NMFS through their Incidental Take

24 Authorizations also has requirements on the Outer

25 Continental Shelf; and this is the purpose for the EIS.



1 These are the resources that we have

2 routinely analyzed for oil and gas activities in the Gulf

3 of Mexico. We have a long list of resources that covers

4 everything from the very near in-shore to the very deep

5 waters, everything from potentially sensitive Benthic

6 communities far offshore, near-shore archaeological

7 resources, water air quality, coastal and marine birds.

8 And the way you write an EIS is you go through and you

9 describe all of these resources systematically and then

10 you take the potential impacting factors -- and this is

11 the short list. You take the potential impacting factors

12 and you lay them up against the resources that you just

13 described and go through what the potential impacts may

14 be.

15 So, these are some of the impacting

16 factors that we tentatively identified that may have some

17 relationship to the geological or geophysical techniques

18 that are going to be used. We're going to look at

19 everything from the active sound sources, we're going to

20 look at air emissions on the ships that are used, we're

21 going to look at sea floor disturbances.

22 And what we're looking for is down

23 here. We're looking for people who are knowledgeable,

24 people who can tell us, you know, this is a pretty good

25 list. You covered most everything but you may have



1 forgotten this or this. And those are the type of

2 comments that we love to get from y'all tonight.

3 One of the things you do as you go

4 through creating an EIS is you look at the alternatives.

5 We have a proposal on the table. The proposal is to

6 allow oil and gas and seismic and the alternative energy

7 and all these G & G activities to move forward if we meet

8 certain criteria, if we do the -- if we get the permits

9 and things like that; but we have to look at other

10 alternatives. And one is known as the no action

11 alternative.

12 No action alternative is where you

13 don't allow the alternative to happen, and you look at

14 the impacts. If you say we understand your proposed

15 action but we're not going to allow it to happen, let's

16 see what happens then. And then there are, of course, as

17 you can imagine with the variety of geophysical tools

18 that are available, the variety of resources that we're

19 looking at, there's a number of other alternatives that

20 we can put together.

21 A lot of them are sort of gradient.

22 You know, pick a point inside the gradient and you look

23 at whether we may want to consider -- look at whether we

24 may want to look at different types of exclusions zones.

25 Maybe we want to consider different types of marine



1 species observers offshore, maybe we have different types

2 of separation distances for concurrent surveys and things

3 like that. These are the types of alternatives that

4 we're looking at. These are the types of things that

5 we're looking to get your thoughts on.

6 If there's something on here -- these

7 are the example of the mitigation measures that we will

8 likely look at in our EIS; but if there's some other

9 thing that we're not catching, if there's something else

10 that y'all are seeing that we're not seeing, this is what

11 we'd like to hear. And we don't for a second believe

12 that we've thought of everything that needs to be thought

13 of. And so, we want the general public, we want all the

14 knowledgeable folks to help us define all of these

15 issues.

16 This is the schedule that we're dealing

17 with at this point. It's going to take quite a while to

18 get this done. We're looking at a record of decision in

19 mid to late 2015 but the bold red is the areas where we

20 have opportunities for public comment and we would like

21 the public to join, we would like the public to become

22 part of the process. We would like very much to get your

23 thoughts on the types of analyses that we're doing, what

24 the resources are, what the alternatives are.

25 So, we have -- at the notice of intent



1 that we've already passed, we have a public comment

2 period. We have scoping meetings that we're going

3 through now. In the middle -- somewhere around the

4 mid-2014, we're going to publish the draft document. We

5 would love everybody to be able to read the draft

6 document, give us comments on the document and tell us

7 what your thoughts are.

8 When that draft document comes out in

9 the middle of 2014, we will do public hearings like this

10 all over again. We will go around probably to the same

11 sites that we've done our scoping on. We will hold

12 meetings just like this to ask for your comment and your

13 thoughts on the draft document that we've published. And

14 then, hopefully by early to mid-2015 we'll have a final

15 document that incorporates all the comments that we've

16 gotten, that incorporates the helpful stuff, and go

17 forward from there.

18 So, what we're going to do, we have a

19 station set up as you can see. We're going to ask

20 anybody who wants to speak. We've had, I believe, three

21 speakers who have previously signed up. We had three

22 speakers who have signed up and expressed an interest in

23 speaking. We have three minutes, but we've got a lot

24 longer than that. So, I'm not going to hold anybody; and

25 we're not going to jump up and stop you if you hit three



1 and a half minutes.

2 But let me cover a couple of other

3 things first. We do have lots of ways for you to send in

4 information. If you have thoughts -- after tonight if

5 you have thoughts that you said, "You know what, I didn't

6 see them cover this" or "that guy said something that

7 really made me think about this," you have until July 9

8 and you have a number of different ways of getting in

9 touch with us. Perhaps the simplest is just this

10 simplest little e-mail, [email protected].

11 But we also have other sites, one at

12 regulations.gov; or you can just send me a letter by

13 snail mail, any of these ways. I think my own phone

14 number is out there on some of this as well. So, you can

15 call us and I will hand you to Andrea and Andrea can take

16 your comment.

17 MS. HECKMAN: I'll be happy to help you.

18 MR. GOEKE: Also, there is quite a bit of

19 information. Andrea and her crew have worked very hard

20 at putting together information on the web site out

21 here. I would urge you if you're interested and you

22 really would like to know what is happening with this EIS

23 and to track it and make sure that you're getting the

24 latest information, this is the site, BOEM.GOV. And

25 again, it's just gomgg. This has the programmatic EIS on



1 it.

2 And here's how you join our mailing

3 list. I think most people have gotten copies of this

4 scoping presentation. So, you have hard copies of how to

5 get on our mailing list. We'd encourage you to do this.

6 This is how we really try to get information from folks,

7 and this is how we want to make sure that we keep in

8 touch with everybody.

9 So, what we're going to do with that

10 pretty picture up on the screen is we are going to go

11 ahead is start up. And the first speaker is Bob

12 Rosenbladt. Bob, did you want to speak to us?

13 MR. ROSENBLADT: Yeah, please. Hi, I'm Bob

14 Rosenbladt; and I'm very glad to be here. I'm

15 representing Shell E & P Corporation. I'm team lead for

16 the geophysical operations team. We're responsible for

17 acquiring seismic for Shell in the western hemisphere.

18 Thanks for the opportunity to speak

19 today about the scoping of this draft programmatic

20 environmental impact statement. We're very pleased that

21 BOEM and NMFS are moving forward with this PEIS which

22 will support the issuance of regulations and permits to

23 conduct geological and geophysical study activities in

24 the Gulf of Mexico.

25 Shell is one the largest lease holders



1 in the Federal OCS waters and one of the largest

2 producers of oil and natural gas in the OCS. We're a

3 technology leader in the deep water Gulf of Mexico and

4 depend on the state of the art seismic imaging to find

5 and develop oil and gas resources.

6 These resources are hard to find, often

7 hiding behind subsurface salt domes, which obscure the

8 seismic record. Shell has worked with our contractors,

9 universities, and our industry partners to develop new

10 advances in seismic technology that not only have a

11 better chance of finding oil and gas accumulations but

12 also minimize the environmental footprint.

13 This PEIS is a needed first step to

14 begin the process of generating the data that will allow

15 for additional production in the central and western Gulf

16 and the potential for future discoveries in the eastern

17 Gulf should that area be made available for leasing and

18 development in the future.

19 The offshore oil and gas industry has

20 demonstrated the ability to conduct seismic exploration

21 activities in a manner that protects marine life. Shell

22 has conducted seismic operations for decades in many of

23 the offshore provinces around the world. Most recently

24 we've conducted surveys in the Gulf of Mexico and in

25 Alaska. Our monitoring activities have shown that



1 there's been no injury to any marine mammal species.

2 Furthermore, there's no scientific evidence demonstrating

3 biologically significant adverse impacts on marine mammal

4 populations. Shell is a member of the OGP Sound and

5 Marine Life Joint Industry Program, which is conducting

6 research on the potential effects of seismic on marine

7 mammals.

8 We strongly believe that the PEIS must

9 be based on the best available science, make appropriate

10 use of allocated models to estimate incidental takes and

11 fully consider the environmental context when making any

12 determination of environmental effects on mitigation

13 measures.

14 Furthermore, any new mitigation

15 measures ordered in the PEIS must be tested in the real

16 world to ensure that they are practical and don't

17 unnecessarily restrain operations.

18 We appreciate the opportunity to

19 provide comments in this scoping process and look forward

20 to reviewing the draft PEIS. Thank you.

21 MR. GOEKE: Thank you. If you have written

22 comments, if you care to turn it in, it will help to make

23 sure we have an accurate representation of what you

24 said. That's fine. Thank you. Our second speaker,

25 Peter Seidel.



1 MR. SEIDEL: Good evening. This is going

2 to sound a little repetitious; but obviously more from

3 the geophysical standpoint rather than the oil company

4 standpoint. But my name is Peter Seidel. I'm with

5 the -- I'm with TGS NOPEC and the IAGC; and I'm here

6 today really representing the International Association

7 of Geophysical Contractors, which is the IAGC.

8 On behalf of the IAGC and the

9 geophysical industry, I wish to express our appreciation

10 for the opportunity to make the following comments which

11 will be supplemented by written comments regarding the

12 development of the PEIS for G & G activities in the Gulf

13 of Mexico.

14 The IAGC is the international trade

15 association representing the industry that provides

16 geophysical acquisition, processing and other services to

17 the energy industry, including both conventional and as

18 you mentioned earlier, the renewable energy sector. The

19 IAGC member companies play an integral role in the

20 successful operation in the development of offshore oil

21 and natural gas resources through the acquisition and

22 processing the geophysical data.

23 Just a few comments on why we -- the

24 value of geophysical data. Geophysical surveys are the

25 key tools used in oil and natural gas exploration and the



1 siting of renewable energy facilities. Our services are

2 critical to the development to the hydrocarbon resources

3 and are one of the very first tools used in exploration

4 process aiding E & P companies in their analysis and

5 identification of the most prospective areas for future

6 oil and natural gas exploration.

7 We're on the same page. Geophysical

8 data is also critical to the development of renewable

9 energy. High resolution and geophysical data and

10 geotechnical boring aids the siting and design of

11 renewable energy and facilities. Geophysical data is

12 also valuable to the Federal government and even to state

13 governments.

14 The BOEM utilizes data to assess the

15 resource potential of the OCS and ensures the Federal

16 government receives a fair market value for the

17 resource.

18 Having gotten geophysical data prior to

19 the lease sale allows industry to make a more informed

20 bid resulting in higher bids and actually more bids

21 promoting greater competition of accessibility to the GOM

22 exploration.

23 How the geophysical industry meets the

24 environmental challenges, modern geophysical imaging

25 reduces risk both economical and of exploration and



1 production but also associated safety and health risks.

2 It reduces the number of wells that need to be drilled in

3 a given area. So, reducing the overall exploration and

4 development and production footprint.

5 The modern geophysical imaging of today

6 is used more and more to protect drain risks that can

7 later be managed or even eliminated.

8 The geophysical industry's 50 years of

9 experience in the Gulf of Mexico planning, acquiring and

10 processing geophysical data in an environmentally

11 friendly and responsible manner. During that time there

12 has been no scientific evidence that our surveys have

13 resulted in a auditory or physical injury to a marine

14 mammal or have adversely impacted marine mammal

15 population.

16 Nevertheless, the industry employs a

17 number of robust mitigation measures to further reduce

18 the negligible risk of harm to marine mammals. It is

19 important to remember that seismic surveys are temporary

20 and transitory and use low frequency short duration shore

21 signals.

22 Though additional information is needed

23 to some areas, there's a significant amount of scientific

24 information available, many of it funded by government

25 agencies, regarding the potential effects of the E & P



1 activities on the marine environment. This information

2 and data from the scientific literature, and not

3 speculation, should be used when assessing potential

4 impacts of G & G activities on the environment.

5 A few comments regarding the

6 development of this draft PEIS. The ultimate considered

7 in the PEIS should only be based on scientific and/or

8 observed effects. And therefore, not include

9 overly-restrictive mitigation measures such as shut down

10 if a dolphin enters an exclusion zones, seasonal closures

11 and large arbitrary and impractical separation distances

12 between geophysical vessels. These are fortunately

13 mitigation measures that are not necessary to protect

14 marine animals.

15 In the past the BOEM has relied on

16 models and methodologies to estimate the number of marine

17 mammals incidental takes resulting in highly exaggerated

18 estimates, especially considering the lack of any

19 observable injuries, mortalities or population level

20 behavior effects.

21 Compounding this problem the agency's

22 previous take number estimates are only achievable by

23 using acoustic threshold criteria based on obsolete data

24 that does not meet the NEPA requirement to use the best

25 available science.



1 We strongly believe that the DPEIS must


3 use of models and methodologies to estimate incidental

4 takes and fully consider the environmental context when

5 making a determination for environmental consequences.

6 The IAGC values the stakeholder process

7 and are committed to participating in a dialogue with all

8 stakeholders to explain what we do, why we do it and the

9 measures we take to protect the environment.

10 And I have with me today some --

11 several educational items and CDs and some handouts which

12 I can -- where am I going to put these later?

13 MR. GOEKE: They can -- in the back.

14 MR. SEIDEL: Put them on the table in the

15 back. And these explain the modern geophysical data

16 acquisition, underwater sound and the measures the

17 geophysical industry implements to ensure minimal impacts

18 of our operation on the environment.

19 And again, the IAGC wishes to express

20 our appreciation for this opportunity to voice our

21 support and commitment to work with the BOEM and all

22 stakeholders in developing of the Gulf of Mexico PEIS.

23 Thank you very much.

24 MR. GOEKE: Thank you. Our third speaker

25 who signed up ahead of time, Joanie Steinhaus.



1 MS. STEINHAUS: Thank you.

2 MR. GOEKE: Did I get close to your name?

3 MS. STEINHAUS: Steinhaus.

4 MR. GOEKE: Okay. Thank you.

5 MS. STEINHAUS: All right. My name is

6 Joanie Steinhaus, and I represent the Sea Turtle

7 Restoration Project. So, I appreciate the opportunity to

8 address the panel tonight on the seismic surveys and

9 their impact on the marine environment in the Gulf of

10 Mexico and specifically the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle.

11 The Kemp's Ridley is listed as critically endangered

12 under the Endangered Species Act, and the population is

13 severely depleted and is considered the most endangered

14 sea turtle species. These sea turtles are long-lived and

15 have a long juvenile stage. This combined with many

16 threats from human activities in the Gulf water and on

17 land affects all stages of their live and they are the

18 reason for their high risk of extinction.

19 Most sea turtles spend a high

20 percentage of their life in the upper level of the water

21 column, less than 180 feet. The Kemp's Ridley turtles

22 transit between near shore and offshore waters within 50

23 miles from shore from spring/summer to fall/winter

24 coinciding with seasonal water temperature changes. The

25 near-shore Gulf of Mexico water serves as a prime



1 foraging habitat for post-nesting Kemp's Ridley Turtle,

2 adult migrating between breeding and foraging habitats,

3 and by post-hatchling and juveniles during early life

4 stages.

5 A recently published paper focused on

6 31 platform transmitter terminals there were deployed on

7 Kemp's Ridley turtles that nested at Padre Island

8 National Seashore and Rancho Nuevo over a 13-year period

9 between 1998 and 2011. The results of this study defined

10 critical foraging hot spots for this species and

11 specifically for post-nesting Kemp's Ridley turtles in

12 the northern Gulf of Mexico.

13 Consistent selection of this region by

14 turtles tracked from the Padre Island National Seashore

15 over a 13-year period, concentration of core-use foraging

16 area for turtles tracked from both Rancho Nuevo and Padre

17 Island and the high forging area fidelity underscore the

18 importance of this habitat across time and for

19 individuals from the largest segment of the nesting

20 population the females at Ranch Nuevo.

21 The dispersion of foraging sites

22 indicates that a foraging corridor exists in the near

23 shore Gulf of Mexico waters and underscores the need for

24 international cooperation for conservation of this

25 imperiled species. Additional and continued tracking of



1 adult females from both Padre Island National Seashores

2 and Rancho Nuevo nesting beaches is warranted to further

3 delineate this corridor and to understand details of the

4 turtle behavior linked to foraging site selection, both

5 across the migratory pathway and the final foraging

6 site.

7 It is difficult in your information

8 that you have posted on line to locate the proposed

9 turbine sites or the number of turbines to be placed in

10 the Gulf, and the sound associated with the seismic

11 surveys produces pulse loud enough to disrupt and

12 disorient marine life.

13 Sea turtles appear to be low frequency

14 specialists with best hearing projected to occur between

15 the frequency range of 50 to 1000 hertz.

16 Based on the functional morphology of

17 the ear, it appears that sea turtles receive sound

18 through the standard vertebrate tympanic middle ear path;

19 and the sea turtle is well adapted to detect underwater

20 sound. The dense layer of fat under the tympanum acts as

21 a channel for underwater sound and the retention of air

22 in the middle ear, indicating sea turtles are able to

23 detect sound pressure.

24 We must adequately consider the

25 possibility that sound waves could seriously injure,



1 disrupt migration and feeding, disorient and even kill

2 sea turtles. We wish to know what measures will be taken

3 to ensure the sea turtles are protected from the negative

4 impact of the seismic activity in this project area.

5 Past projects have focused on beach surveys to identify

6 the nesting Ridley females but have failed to assess the

7 impact to other life stages. We believe seismic activity

8 should be conducted only in months when near shore waters

9 are cool and less likely to impact the sea turtles.

10 These months are November through March. Thank you for

11 allowing me this opportunity to address the panel.

12 MR. GOEKE: Thank you. I appreciate it.

13 That is all the speakers that we had that signed up

14 beforehand. What we are going to do, I'm going to ask to

15 see if there's anybody that wants to speak now; and if

16 so, come up, give us your name, your affiliation. Yes,

17 sir.

18 DR. LINTON: I want to ask a couple of

19 questions from your slide slow.

20 MR. GOEKE: You can ask. I don't know that

21 I can answer.

22 DR. LINTON: Well, I can certainly try. My

23 name is Tom Linton. I'm with Texas A & M University.

24 MR. GOEKE: Yes, sir.

25 DR. LINTON: And many, many years ago I



1 studied the effects of seismic exploration on a variety

2 of things.

3 MR. GOEKE: Okay. Well, let me stop you,

4 please. We're about to take a break. I think the best

5 thing is for us to have a discussion during the break.

6 DR. LINTON: I want to ask you two

7 questions. I don't want to discuss anything.

8 MR. GOEKE: Okay. All right.

9 DR. LINTON: There was a thing, and I just

10 barely caught the end of it, a called device called a

11 marine "vibrosity"?

12 MR. GOEKE: Vibroseis.

13 DR. LINTON: What is that?

14 MR. GOEKE: It's a new tool that they're

15 working on to try to develop and --

16 DR. LINTON: What does it do? What does it

17 look like?

18 MR. GOEKE: We're going to -- we're going

19 to --

20 DR. LINTON: Maybe we're going to take a

21 break and --

22 MR. GOEKE: Yeah, let's talk some at the

23 break.

24 DR. LINTON: Okay. And the second thing,

25 you're going to ramp up acoustic sources.



1 MR. GOEKE: Yes.

2 DR. LINTON: "Ramping up" means cranking

3 them up.

4 MR. GOEKE: Ramping up in this term means

5 that they start off very low and they build over a period

6 of time so that they can -- again, break.

7 DR. LINTON: Let's take a break, and I'll

8 talk to him.

9 MR. GOEKE: Was there anyone else that

10 wanted to speak?

11 DR. KIENE: I wish to.


13 DR. KIENE: My name is Bill Kiene, and I

14 work for the southeast region of NOAA's Office of

15 National Marine Sanctuaries. It maybe not appropriate

16 that I speak for NOAA's Offices of National Marine

17 Sanctuaries, but I will --

18 MR. GOEKE: Speak for yourself.

19 DR. KIENE: I will speak as -- make some

20 personal comments.

21 MR. GOEKE: Okay.

22 DR. KIENE: And we have had a very

23 productive working relationship with BOEM over the years,

24 particularly at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine

25 Sanctuary at the Gulf, 100 miles off of Galveston here.



1 And because of that working relationship with not only

2 you and the petroleum industry, Flower Garden Banks are

3 probably the most healthiest coral reefs in the entire

4 western hemisphere.

5 This is -- the sanctuary is surrounded

6 by probably the most industrialized part of the ocean and

7 the world, and it goes to show that we can all work

8 together to have a healthy environment and to have the

9 economic developments that we need in the offshore

10 world. So, look forward to continuing that good working

11 relationship with you, with the industry and the

12 stakeholders in the Gulf.

13 MR. GOEKE: Thank you. Is there anyone

14 else?

15 (Silent pause.)

16 MR. GOEKE: Okay. What we're going to do

17 is we're going to adjourn for 15 minutes; and then, we're

18 going to start back up after 15 minutes and see if

19 anyone's got additional comments. Thank you.

20 (Short recess from 7:06 to 7:21.)

21 MR. GOEKE: All right. We've taken our

22 15-minute break; and during the course of the 15-minute

23 break, we had a question posed to us that seemed to make

24 a lot of sense. The question posed was: Could we give a

25 brief descriptive of a couple of the technologies that we



1 had some questions about. So, I've imposed on two of our

2 experts in the audience. If you would, give us a

3 two-minute explanation of the marine vibroseis and the

4 air guns? Is that what you --

5 MR. ROSENBLADT: The other way around.

6 MR. SEIDEL: The other way around.

7 MR. GOEKE: If you would, go ahead and

8 reintroduce your.

9 MR. SEIDEL: Again, my name is Peter

10 Seidel. I'm with the TGS NOPEC or TGS Geophysical

11 Science and representing the IAGC, the International

12 Association of Geophysical Contractors.

13 The question was regarding this ramp-up

14 and you may hear it called the warm start, but generally

15 speaking -- and I apologize for the people here who know

16 more about this, but I will explain it in laymen's terms

17 so everybody is the on same page here. The sound source

18 is a series of air pressure units that are towed behind

19 the vessel. They can typically be maybe 36 of them towed

20 in different arrays directly behind the vessel that are

21 typically about eight meters, eight meters deep below the

22 surface of the water.

23 And in the good old days before we

24 really cared very much about what was going on, when we

25 came onto the line that we were surveying and it was time



1 to start firing the source, we would just switch all of

2 the guns on simultaneously and at full volume and full

3 capacity and start booming away. We would do a few

4 warm-up shots before we got to the start-up line and then

5 we would progress down the line.

6 Typically the source is fired every 10

7 to 12 seconds on the line. It's a relatively low

8 frequency. It's a short impulse. So, when we talk about

9 ramp-up, it seemed logical that if there were marine

10 mammals in the area when we just switched all of these

11 guns on them and went boom, it seemed logical that we

12 might want to give them a little bit of a warning. So,

13 what we decided or what industry decided to do was to

14 start firing the smallest unit which gives us the

15 smallest amount of sound; and over a 20 to 40-minute

16 period, just gradually add the other units in until we

17 reach full volume. That way the source is gradually

18 increasing in size and the effective area of the noise.

19 So, if there were any marine mammals, obviously the

20 intention was is this would give them warning and be able

21 to move.

22 And that is that. I should also say

23 that these arrays are designed so that the sound travels

24 predominantly downwards. It is fair to say there's some

25 side scatters from these, but they're designed so the



1 array -- the sound travels down into the seabeds. So,

2 any questions on that?

3 MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE: Would you be able

4 to let us know how fast the vessels are traveling while

5 this is going on?

6 DR. SEIDEL: Typically about four and a

7 half knots is a typical production speed. So, we're

8 moving through the area. So, if there's -- you know,

9 like I mentioned in my comments earlier, it's a

10 transitory thing. So, it's not as if we're staying in

11 one area and constantly sounding -- producing the sound

12 in the same area. We're moving along; and as I

13 mentioned, it's typically every 12 to 15 seconds we emit

14 the sound source.

15 DR. LINTON: Your ship is running six to

16 eight knots, right?

17 DR. SEIDEL: No. In production about four

18 and a half knots typically.

19 DR. LINTON: Have you made -- are there

20 graphs of what those ramp-up sounds --

21 DR. SEIDEL: Yeah, there are. In fact,

22 there's ongoing studies. And part of the JIP is one of

23 the sound source verifications. TGS is also doing

24 another study this year, this summer, in the North Sea.

25 So, yes, that information is available; but there is



1 still a lot of work to do on them.

2 MR. GOEKE: Thank you very much.

3 MR. ROSENBLADT: Bob Rosenbladt from

4 Shell. And the marine vibroseis, or marine vibrator, is

5 a different type of source. It's analogous to vibrators

6 or vibroseis that is used in land seismic exploration. I

7 guess the best description that I can come up with off

8 the top of my head would just basically be like a loud

9 speaker. And instead of an air gun, which is kind of

10 termed an impulsive source where you get a sudden

11 increase in pressure and then quiet for many seconds, the

12 marine vibrator outputs sound over several seconds so

13 that the peak pressure is lower but the duty cycle, if

14 you will, is longer.

15 I think Peter said he worked on a

16 marine vibrator back in the Seventies. That's something

17 the industry has worked on periodically to try to get

18 fruition. Often progress has been made to impress oil

19 drops and then R & D budgets are cuts. So, there's been

20 kind of many attempts over the decades to try and get a

21 viable marine vibroseis source available.

22 Presently there's a joint industry

23 project being funded by Shell, Exxon Mobile and Total

24 working together through our friends here at Texas A & M

25 to develop a commercially available and scientifically



1 attractive marine vibroseis source to give us an

2 alternative in some locations where it would be

3 preferable perhaps over air guns.

4 It also potentially could have

5 technical advantages in terms of things like phasing

6 coating -- you know, different types of output sounds

7 that you're doing, not just environmental reasons but

8 technical reasons might give us an attractive appeal.

9 Also the marine vibroseis may very well work better in

10 very shallow water.

11 So, presently that's what we're doing

12 right now going forward is we've got three vendors.

13 We've gone and looked at 36 potential vendors, and we

14 selected three. We have two of those under contract; and

15 third contract we expect almost within the week or two,

16 very close. So, those three companies we plan to have

17 each of them build a prototype. We'll test it both for

18 acoustic output and durability and then we potentially

19 might then go forward with three full arrays.

20 And what we're really trying to do is

21 launch this is into the industry. This is not what these

22 three companies do as a matter of course. We're not

23 equipment builders. We look for oil and gas, but it

24 would give us -- we're trying to get something out there

25 in the industry to give us another alternative source.



1 Any questions?

2 DR. LINTON: The old style could vary

3 peaks. Is that still --

4 MR. ROSENBLADT: Yeah, that would be the --

5 DR. LINTON: So, you can be -- I don't know

6 how to say it -- cut --

7 MR. ROSENBLADT: There could be certain

8 areas where you only know certain frequency sounds are

9 going to be of interest. You know, if you're in an area

10 where you're seeing that you only get 40 hertz and below,

11 there's no point in outputting frequencies above that.

12 So, it gives us more control.

13 MR. GOEKE: Thank you very much. I

14 appreciate that. Thanks both of you. Let's get back to

15 the purpose of the meeting, which was to see if we had

16 anyone else who had possibly arrived late or anybody who

17 had some additional thoughts, additional comments that

18 they wanted to add.

19 DR. LINTON: Let's hit the bars.

20 MR. GOEKE: Seeing none. I declare us

21 adjourned. Thank you all very much for coming. I

22 appreciate your time.

23 MS. HECKMAN: Thank you very much.

24 (Meeting concluded.)

25



1

2 STATE OF TEXAS )

3 GALVESTON COUNTY)

4

5 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE

6 BOEM SCOPING MEETING

7 TAKEN JUNE 17, 2013

8 I, Rhonda Russo, Court Reporter in and for

9 the State of Texas, do hereby certify that the above and

10 foregoing contains a true and correct transcription of

11 the meeting that took place.

12 I further certify that I am neither

13 attorney nor counsel for, related to or employed by any

14 of the parties to the action in which this meeting is

15 taken and further, that I am not a relative or employee

16 of any counsel employed by the parties hereto or

17 financially interested in the action.

18 WITNESS MY OFFICIAL HAND this the _____day

19 of _______________, 2013.

20

21 __________________________

22 RHONDA RUSSO, CSR Texas CSR 4852

23 Expiration Date 12-31-13 Firm Registration No. 243

24 Nell McCallum & Associates 5300 Memorial, Suite 600

25 Houston, Texas 77007 713.861.0203

WORD INDEX

< 1 >10 30:6100 27:251000 24:1512 30:7 31:1312-31-13 35:2313-year 23:8,1515 28:17, 18 31:1315-minute 28:22, 2217 1:12 35:7180 22:211954 3:171998 23:9

< 2 >20 30:152011 23:92013 1:12 35:7, 72014 12:92015 11:19243 35:23

< 3 >300 6:2131 23:636 29:19 33:13

< 4 >40 34:1040-minute 30:154852 35:22

< 5 >50 19:8

22:22 24:155300 35:24

< 6 >6:31 2:1600 35:24

< 7 >7:06 28:207:21 28:20713.861.0203 35:2577007 35:25

< 9 >9 13:7

< A >ability 15:20able 7:17 12:5 24:22 30:20 31:3accessibility 18:21accumulations 15:11accurate 16:23achievable 20:22acoustic 20:23 26:25 33:18acquiring 14:17 19:9acquisition 17:16, 21 21:16Act 3:21, 22 5:11, 15, 16 22:12action 10:10,12, 15 35:7,7actions 3:25

6:18active 9:19activities 3:2 7:9 8:23 9:2 10:7 14:23 15:21, 25 17:12 20:1,4 22:16activity 25:4, 7acts 24:20adapted 24:19add 30:16 34:18additional 15:15 19:22 23:25 28:19 34:17, 17address 7:12,13, 22 22:8 25:11addressing 4:20adequately 24:24adjourn 28:17adjourned 34:21adult 23:2 24:1advances 15:10advantages 33:5adverse 16:3adversely 19:14affiliation 25:16agencies 3:2,23 5:14 19:25agency 3:5,11, 13, 14, 15

5:8, 8 7:25 8:5agency's 20:21ago 25:25ahead 14:11 21:25 29:7aiding 18:4aids 18:10air 9:7, 20 24:21 29:4,18 32:9 33:3Alaska 15:25allocated 16:10allow 10:6,13, 15 15:14allowing 25:11allows 18:19alternative 10:6, 11, 12,13 33:2, 25alternatives 10:4, 10, 19 11:3, 24amount 19:23 30:15analogous 32:5analyses 11:23analysis 18:4analyzed 9:2Andrea 2:9,10, 21, 24 13:15, 15, 19animals 20:14answer 25:21anticipating 4:2anybody 12:20, 24 25:15 34:16

anyone's 28:19apart 7:12apologize 29:15appeal 33:8appear 24:13appears 24:17applicable 5:12appreciate 2:14, 19 16:18 22:7 25:12 34:14,22appreciation 17:9 21:20appropriate 16:9 21:2 27:15arbitrary 20:11archaeological 9:6area 7:23 8:2 15:17 19:3 23:16,17 25:4 30:10, 18 31:8, 11, 12 34:9areas 11:19 18:5 19:23 34:8array 31:1arrays 29:20 30:23 33:19arrived 34:16art 15:4assess 8:10 18:14 25:6assessing 20:3Assessment 2:4

associated 19:1 24:10Associates 35:24Association 17:6, 15 29:12attempts 32:20attest 7:10attorney 35:7attractive 33:1, 8audience 7:10 29:2 31:3auditory 19:13auspices 3:20authorities 3:17authorizations 8:5, 24available 10:18 15:17 16:9 19:24 20:25 21:2 31:25 32:21,25

back 3:17 6:1 21:13,15 28:18 32:16 34:14Banks 27:24 28:2barely 26:10bars 34:19based 16:9 20:7, 23 21:2 24:16basically 32:8beach 7:4 25:5

beaches 7:7 24:2bear 2:7beginning 4:5, 9behalf 17:8behavior 20:20 24:4believe 11:11 12:20 16:8 21:1 25:7Benthic 9:5best 2:15,19 16:9 20:24 21:2 24:14 26:4 32:7better 15:11 33:9bewildering 7:8bid 18:20bids 18:20,20big 4:21Bill 27:13biological 6:11biologically 16:3birds 9:7bit 2:17 5:4, 18 13:18 30:12Bob 14:11,12, 13 32:3BOEM 2:12 8:22 14:21 18:14 20:15 21:21 27:23 35:6BOEM.GOV 13:24BOEM's 1:9

3:12bold 11:19boom 30:11booming 30:3boring 18:10break 26:4,5, 21, 23 27:6, 7 28:22, 23breeding 23:2brief 28:25budgets 32:19build 7:4 27:5 33:17builders 33:23built 3:20Bureau 2:5 3:3

< C >call 13:15called 26:10,10 29:14capacity 30:3care 16:22cared 29:24cartoon 5:21catching 11:9caught 26:10CDs 21:11central 15:15certain 10:8 34:7, 8certainly 25:22CERTIFICATE 35:5certify 35:7,7challenges 18:24chance 15:11changes 22:24channel 24:21

chemosynethetics 6:15chief 2:4close 22:2 33:16closer 8:8closures 20:10Coastal 5:15 7:2 8:7 9:7coating 33:6coinciding 22:24cold 2:6co-lead 3:6column 22:21combined 22:15come 25:16 32:7comes 7:5 12:8coming 2:15,20 34:21comment 11:20 12:1,12 13:16comments 4:21, 24, 25 10:2 12:6,15 16:19, 22 17:10, 11, 23 20:5 27:20 28:19 31:9 34:17commercially 32:25commitment 21:21committed 21:7communities 9:6

companies 17:19 18:4 33:16, 22company 17:3competition 18:21Compounding 20:21concentration 23:15concluded 34:24concurrent 11:2conditions 6:2, 3conduct 14:23 15:20conducted 15:22, 24 25:8conducting 16:5Congressional 3:12consequences 21:5conservation 23:24consider 5:12 10:23,25 16:11 21:4 24:24considered 20:6 22:13considering 20:18Consistent 23:13constantly 31:11consultations 5:10, 13, 16contains 35:7context 16:11 21:4

Continental 5:9 8:1, 13,25continued 23:25continuing 28:10contract 33:14, 15contractors 15:8 17:7 29:12control 34:12conventional 17:17cool 25:9cooperation 23:24copies 14:3,4coral 28:3corals 6:16core-use 23:15Corporation 14:15correct 35:7corridor 23:22 24:3counsel 35:7,7COUNTY 35:3couple 3:16 4:3 13:2 25:18 28:25course 8:4 10:16 28:22 33:22Court 1:24 35:7cover 4:22 13:2, 6covered 9:25covers 9:3cranking 27:2

create 3:24 4:3created 3:23creating 10:4creation 5:20crew 13:19criteria 10:8 20:23critical 18:2, 8 23:10critically 22:11CSR 1:24 35:22, 22culture 6:12cut 34:6cuts 32:19cycle 32:13

< D >data 15:14 17:22, 24 18:8, 9, 11,14, 18 19:10 20:2, 23 21:15date 3:17 35:23day 35:7days 29:23dealing 11:16deals 5:14decades 15:22 32:20decided 30:13, 13decision 11:18declare 34:20deep 9:4 15:3 29:21define 4:18 11:14defined 23:9

delineate 24:3demonstrated 15:20demonstrating 16:2dense 24:20depend 15:4depleted 22:13deployed 23:6describe 9:9described 9:13description 32:7descriptive 28:25design 18:10designed 30:23, 25details 24:3detect 24:19,23determination 16:12 21:5determine 6:14develop 15:5,9 26:15 32:25developing 21:22Development 1:10 4:1 15:18 17:12,20 18:2, 8 19:4 20:6developments 28:9device 26:10dialogue 21:7different 4:7 5:5, 14 6:1 7:14,16 10:24, 25

11:1 13:8 29:20 32:5 33:6difficult 24:7directly 29:20discoveries 15:16discuss 4:4 26:7discussing 2:11discussion 26:5disorient 24:12 25:1dispersion 23:21disrupt 24:11 25:1distances 11:2 20:11disturbances 9:21document 2:11 3:10 4:4, 15 5:1,2 12:4, 6, 6,8, 13, 15documents 8:8doing 8:14 11:23 31:23 33:7, 11dolphin 20:10domes 15:7doubt 2:6downwards 30:24DPEIS 21:1DR 25:18, 22,25 26:6, 9,13, 16, 20, 24 27:2, 7, 11,13, 19, 22 31:6, 15, 17,

19, 21 34:2,5, 19draft 12:4,5, 8, 13 14:19 16:20 20:6drain 19:6dramatically 7:14, 16draw 6:3drilled 19:2drops 32:19dune 7:4durability 33:18duration 19:20duty 32:13

< E >ear 24:17,18, 22earlier 17:18 31:9early 12:14 23:3eastern 15:16economic 28:9economical 18:25educational 21:11effective 30:18effects 8:11 16:6, 12 19:25 20:8,20 26:1eight 29:21,21 31:16EIS 1:10 3:1, 7 4:1,6, 12, 19, 21 5:21 7:10,23 8:7, 10,25 9:8

10:4 11:8 13:22, 25EIS's 3:20eliminated 19:7e-mail 13:10emissions 9:20emit 31:13employed 35:7, 7employee 35:7employees 2:12employs 19:16encourage 14:5Endangered 5:16 22:11,12, 13Energy 3:3 5:24 6:19 10:6 17:17,18 18:1, 9,11Engineer 2:5ensure 16:16 21:17 25:3ensures 18:15enters 20:10entire 7:24 8:1 28:3environment 20:1, 4 21:9, 18 22:9 28:8Environmental 2:4 3:19,21 5:11 8:11, 15 14:20 15:12 16:11, 12 18:24 21:4,5 33:7

environmentally 19:10equipment 33:23erosion 7:2especially 20:18estimate 16:10 20:16 21:3estimates 20:18, 22evaluation 3:24evening 2:2,9, 13, 15, 20,25 3:7 17:1everybody 4:14 5:7 12:5 14:8 29:17evidence 16:2 19:12exaggerated 20:17examine 5:2example 11:7exclusion 20:10exclusions 10:24exists 23:22expect 33:15experience 19:9experts 29:2Expiration 35:23explain 21:8,15 29:16explanation 29:3exploration 15:20 17:25 18:3, 6, 22,

25 19:3 26:1 32:6express 17:9 21:19expressed 12:22extinction 22:18Exxon 32:23

< F >facilities 18:1, 11fact 31:21factors 8:18 9:10, 11, 16failed 25:6fair 18:16 30:24fairly 4:1fall 22:23far 9:6farm 6:21fashion 4:7 7:21fast 31:4fat 24:20Federal 3:23 4:13 5:12 8:6 15:1 18:12, 15feeding 25:1feet 22:21females 23:20 24:1 25:6fidelity 23:17fighting 2:6final 12:14 24:5financially 35:7find 15:4, 6finding 15:11

fine 16:24fired 30:6firing 30:1,14Firm 35:23first 4:10 13:3 14:11 15:13 18:3Fisheries 8:3, 6Fishery 3:8,8floor 5:25 6:3, 5, 14,21, 22 9:21floors 6:14Flower 27:24 28:2focused 23:5 25:5folks 7:9 11:14 14:6follow 8:1following 8:3 17:10footprint 15:12 19:4foraging 23:1, 2, 10,15, 21, 22 24:4, 5foregoing 35:7forging 23:17forgotten 10:1former 3:14fortunately 20:12forward 10:7 12:17 14:21 16:19 28:10 33:12, 19found 2:22four 6:6 31:6, 17

frequencies 34:11frequency 19:20 24:13,15 30:8 34:8friendly 19:11friends 32:24fruition 32:18fulfill 3:10full 30:2, 2,17 33:19fully 16:11 21:4functional 24:16funded 19:24 32:23further 19:17 24:2 35:7, 7Furthermore 16:2, 14future 15:16,18 18:5

< G >Galveston 1:11 27:25 35:3Garden 27:24 28:2Gary 2:3gas 6:8 9:2 10:6 15:2, 5, 11,19 17:21, 25 18:6 33:23general 11:13generally 3:22 4:16 29:14generating 15:14

geological 3:1 7:15 8:12 9:17 14:23geophysical 3:1 7:15 8:12 9:17 10:17 14:16,23 17:3, 7,9, 16, 22, 24,24 18:7, 9,11, 18, 23, 24 19:5, 8, 10 20:12 21:15,17 29:10, 12geotechnical 18:10getting 13:8,23give 5:3 12:6 25:16 28:24 29:2 30:12, 20 33:1, 8, 24,25given 19:3gives 5:22 30:14 34:12glad 14:14go 2:3 7:7 8:4, 7 9:8,13 10:3 12:10, 16 14:10 29:7 33:19GOEKE 2:2, 3 13:18 16:21 21:13, 24 22:2, 4 25:12, 20, 24 26:3, 8, 12,14, 18, 22 27:1, 4, 9,12, 18, 21 28:13, 16, 21

29:7 32:2 34:13, 20goes 28:7going 2:2,11, 21 3:9,18 4:14, 19 5:2, 3 6:20 7:11, 11, 20,21, 24 8:3,13, 16 9:18,18, 19, 21 10:15 11:17 12:2, 4, 18,19, 24, 25 14:9, 10 17:1 21:12 25:14, 14 26:18, 18, 20,25 28:16, 17,18 29:24 31:5 33:12 34:9GOM 18:21gomgg 13:[email protected] 13:10Good 2:2 8:17 9:24 17:1 28:10 29:23gotten 12:16 14:3 18:18government 18:12, 16 19:24governments 18:13gradient 10:21, 22gradually 30:16, 17graphs 31:20greater 18:21guess 32:7Gulf 3:2 6:7 7:25

9:2 14:24 15:3, 15, 17,24 17:12 19:9 21:22 22:9, 16, 25 23:12, 23 24:10 27:25 28:12gun 32:9guns 29:4 30:2, 11 33:3guy 13:6

< H >habitat 23:1,18habitats 23:2half 4:3 13:1 31:7,18hand 13:15 35:7handouts 21:11happen 10:13,15happening 13:22happens 10:16happy 13:17hard 6:14 13:19 14:4 15:6harm 19:18head 32:8health 19:1healthiest 28:3healthy 28:8hear 2:6 11:11 29:14hearing 24:14hearings 12:9Heckman 2:10

13:17 34:23Held 1:11help 3:10 7:7 11:14 13:17 16:22helpful 12:16hemisphere 14:17 28:4hereto 35:7hertz 24:15 34:10Hi 14:13hiding 15:7High 18:9 22:18, 19 23:17higher 18:20highly 20:17hit 12:25 34:19hold 12:11,24holders 14:25hopefully 12:14hot 23:10Houston 35:25human 22:16hurricanes 7:1hydrocarbon 18:2

IAGC 17:5, 7,8, 14, 19 21:6, 19 29:11idea 5:22 6:4 8:16, 17identification 6:12 18:5identified 9:16identify 4:16 25:5

identifying 6:9imagine 5:17 10:17imaging 15:4 18:24 19:5impact 3:19 8:15 14:20 22:9 25:4,7, 9impacted 19:14impacting 8:18 9:10,11, 15impacts 7:18,20 9:13 10:14 16:3 20:4 21:17imperiled 23:25implements 21:17importance 23:18important 6:8, 23 19:19imposed 29:1impractical 20:11impress 32:18impulse 5:24 30:8impulsive 32:10Incidental 8:23 16:10 20:17 21:3include 20:8including 17:17incorporates 12:15, 16increase 32:11

increasing 30:18indicates 23:22indicating 24:22individually 7:12individuals 23:19industrialized 28:6industry 15:9, 19 16:5 17:9,15, 17 18:19,23 19:16 21:17 28:2,11 30:13 32:17, 22 33:21, 25industry's 19:8information 3:9 4:14 5:4 13:4,19, 20, 24 14:6 19:22,24 20:1 24:7 31:25informed 18:19injure 24:25injuries 20:19injury 16:1 19:13in-shore 9:4inside 8:4 10:22integral 17:19intent 4:12 11:25intention 30:20

interest 4:24 7:23 12:22 34:9interested 13:21 35:7International 17:6, 14 23:24 29:11investigations 7:1involved 3:3Island 23:7,14, 17 24:1issuance 14:22issues 4:7,22 11:15items 21:11

< J >JIP 31:22Joanie 21:25 22:6job 7:11join 11:21 14:2Joint 16:5 32:22July 13:7jump 12:25June 1:12 35:7juvenile 22:15juveniles 23:3

< K >keep 14:7Kemp's 22:10,11, 21 23:1,7, 11key 17:25KIENE 27:11,13, 13, 19, 22

kill 25:1kind 32:9, 20knots 31:7,16, 18know 4:14 6:22 9:24 10:22 13:5,22 25:2, 20 29:15 31:4,8 33:6 34:5, 8, 9knowledgeable 9:23 11:14known 3:21 4:5, 11 10:10

< L >lack 20:18land 22:17 32:6large 20:11largest 14:25 15:1 23:19late 11:19 34:16lately 2:18latest 13:24launch 33:21law 5:11laws 5:12lay 4:6 9:12layer 24:20laymen's 29:16lead 14:15leader 15:3lease 14:25 18:19leasing 15:17lengthy 4:2letter 13:12level 20:19 22:20

life 15:21 16:5 22:20 23:3 24:12 25:7light 2:18line 8:2 24:8 29:25 30:4, 5, 7linked 24:4LINTON 25:18,22, 23, 25 26:6, 9, 13,16, 20, 24 27:2, 7 31:15, 19 34:2, 5, 19list 7:20 9:3, 11, 25 14:3, 5listed 22:11literature 20:2little 2:22 5:3 13:10 17:2 30:12live 22:17locate 7:6 24:8locating 6:9locations 33:2logical 30:9,11long 9:3 22:15longer 12:24 32:14long-lived 22:14look 5:5 9:18, 20, 21 10:4, 9, 13,22, 23, 24 11:8 16:19 26:17 28:10

33:23looked 33:13looking 4:20 5:21 8:17 9:22, 23 10:19 11:4,5, 18lot 5:9 6:12 10:21 12:23 28:24 32:1lots 13:3loud 24:11 32:8Louisiana 7:2love 10:2 12:5low 7:20 19:20 24:13 27:5 30:7lower 32:13lump 7:13

< M >mail 13:13mailing 14:2,5making 16:11 21:5Mammal 5:15 16:1, 3 19:14, 14mammals 16:7 19:18 20:17 30:10, 19managed 19:7Management 2:5 3:3, 15 5:15mandate 3:5,13, 23manner 15:21 19:11March 25:10Marine 3:8,8 5:15

6:25 8:3, 6 9:7 10:25 15:21 16:1,3, 5, 6 19:13, 14, 18 20:1, 14, 16 22:9 24:12 26:11 27:15,16, 24 29:3 30:9, 19 32:4, 4, 12,16, 21 33:1,9market 18:16matter 33:22McCallum 35:24means 27:2, 4measures 11:7 16:13,15 19:17 20:9, 13 21:9, 16 25:2meet 10:7 20:24Meeting 1:9 4:17, 18 34:15, 24 35:6, 7, 7meetings 12:2, 12meets 18:23member 16:4 17:19 31:3Memorial 35:24mentioned 8:22 17:18 31:9, 13meters 29:21,21methodologies 20:16 21:3Mexico 3:2 6:7 7:25

9:3 14:24 15:3, 24 17:13 19:9 21:22 22:10,25 23:12, 23mid 11:19mid-2014 12:4mid-2015 12:14middle 12:3,9 24:18, 22migrating 23:2migration 25:1migratory 24:5miles 22:23 27:25Minerals 3:15 6:25 7:3minimal 21:17minimize 15:12minutes 12:23 13:1 28:17, 18mitigation 11:7 16:12,14 19:17 20:9, 13Mobile 32:23models 16:10 20:16 21:3moderately 3:13modern 18:24 19:5 21:15monitoring 15:25monopiles 6:23months 25:8,10

morphology 24:16mortalities 20:19move 7:1 10:7 30:21moving 14:21 31:8, 12

< N >name 2:3 17:4 22:2,5 25:16, 23 27:13 29:9National 3:7,8, 20 5:10 8:3, 6 23:8,14 24:1 27:15, 16, 24natural 15:2 17:21, 25 18:6nature 4:19 5:1near 9:4 22:22 23:22 25:8near-shore 9:6 22:25necessary 20:13need 6:22 7:16 8:21 19:2 23:23 28:9needed 15:13 19:22needs 5:7 11:12negative 25:3negligible 19:18neither 35:7Nell 35:24

NEPA 3:21,22, 22 5:10 20:24nested 23:7nesting 23:19 24:2 25:6Nevertheless 19:16New 2:5, 10 3:13 15:9 16:14 26:14NMFS 8:23 14:21NOAA's 27:14,16noise 30:18NOPEC 17:5 29:10North 31:24northern 7:24 23:12notice 4:11 11:25November 25:10Nuevo 23:8,16, 20 24:2number 2:12 6:16 8:15 10:19 13:8,14 19:2, 17 20:16, 22 24:9

< O >obligation 8:22obligations 3:10obscure 15:7observable 20:19observed 20:8observers 11:1

obsolete 20:23obviously 6:8 17:2 30:19occur 24:14Ocean 2:5 3:3 28:6OCS 15:1, 2 18:15Office 27:14Offices 27:16OFFICIAL 35:7offshore 7:3 9:6 11:1 15:19, 23 17:20 22:22 28:9OGP 16:4oil 6:8 9:2 10:6 15:2, 5, 11,19 17:3, 20,25 18:6 32:18 33:23Okay 22:4 26:3, 8, 24 27:21 28:16old 29:23 34:2ones 7:17ongoing 31:22operation 17:20 21:18operations 6:7 14:16 15:22 16:17opportunities 11:20opportunity 14:18 16:18 17:10 21:20 22:7 25:11ordered 16:15Orleans 2:5,10

Outer 5:9 8:1, 13, 24output 33:6,18outputs 32:12outputting 34:11overall 19:3overly-restrictive 20:9

p.m 2:1Padre 23:7,14, 16 24:1page 18:7 29:17panel 22:8 25:11paper 23:5part 4:10 11:22 28:6 31:22participating 21:7particularly 27:24parties 35:7,7partners 15:9passed 12:1path 24:18pathway 24:5pause 28:15peak 32:13peaks 34:3PEIS 14:21 15:13 16:8,15, 20 17:12 20:6, 7 21:22people 9:23,24 14:3 29:15percentage

22:20performed 6:7period 12:2 23:8, 15 27:5 30:16periodically 32:17permit 8:22permits 10:8 14:22personal 27:20Peter 16:25 17:4 29:9 32:15petroleum 6:10 28:2phasing 33:5phone 13:13physical 19:13pick 10:22picture 6:3 14:10place 35:7placed 24:9plan 33:16planning 19:9platform 23:6play 17:19please 2:3,7 14:13 26:4pleased 14:20point 10:22 11:17 34:11Policy 3:21 5:11population 19:15 20:19 22:12 23:20populations 16:4posed 28:23,24

possibility 24:25possibly 34:16posted 24:8post-hatchling 23:3post-nesting 23:1, 11potential 6:9, 15 7:18 8:11,17 9:10, 11,13 15:16 16:6 18:15 19:25 20:3 33:13potentially 9:5 33:4, 18practical 16:16predominantly 30:24preferable 33:3preparation 3:1, 19prepare 4:11,12preparing 4:15presentation 14:4Presently 32:22 33:11pressure 24:23 29:18 32:11, 13pretty 9:24 14:10previous 20:22previously 12:21primarily 3:4

primary 3:6 6:6prime 22:25prior 18:18probably 12:10 28:3,6problem 20:21process 4:2,5, 6, 10, 11 11:22 15:14 16:19 18:4 21:6processes 4:8 5:18processing 17:16, 22 19:10producers 15:2produces 24:11producing 31:11production 15:15 19:1,4 31:7, 17productive 27:23products 6:10Program 16:5programmatic 8:21 13:25 14:19progress 30:5 32:18Project 22:7 25:4 32:23projected 24:14projector 2:21projects 25:5promoting 18:21

proposal 10:5, 5proposed 3:24 10:14 24:8prospective 18:5protect 19:6 20:13 21:9protected 25:3Protection 5:15protects 15:21prototype 33:17provide 16:19provides 17:15provinces 15:23public 11:13,20, 21, 21 12:1, 9publish 3:10 4:13 12:4published 12:13 23:5pulse 24:11purpose 4:17,18 8:10, 25 34:15purposes 3:6 6:6put 4:13 6:23 7:17 10:20 21:12,14putting 5:24 6:21 7:24 13:20

< Q >quality 9:7

question 28:23, 24 29:13questions 25:19 26:7 29:1 31:2 34:1quiet 32:11quite 2:17,23 5:18 11:17 13:18

< R >ramp 26:25Ramping 27:2,4ramp-up 29:13 30:9 31:20Ranch 23:20Rancho 23:8,16 24:2range 24:15reach 30:17reaction 8:20read 12:5real 5:23 16:15really 5:19 13:7, 22 14:6 17:6 29:24 33:20reason 22:18reasons 33:7,8receive 4:24,25 24:17receivers 6:1receives 18:16recess 28:20record 2:3 11:18 15:8red 11:19reduce 19:17

reduces 18:25 19:2reducing 19:3reefs 28:3refer 3:22reflects 5:25regarding 17:11 19:25 20:5 29:13region 23:13 27:14register 4:13Registration 35:23regulations 14:22

regulations.gov 13:12reintroduce 29:8related 35:7relationship 9:17 27:23 28:1, 11relative 35:7relatively 2:18 30:7reliable 2:23relied 20:15remember 19:19remote 2:22remotely 6:13renewable 6:19 17:18 18:1, 8, 11renourish 7:4repetitious 17:2Reporter 1:24 35:7REPORTER'S 35:5represent 3:4 22:6

representation 16:23representing 14:15 17:6,15 29:11required 5:10requirement 20:24requirements 8:24research 16:6resolution 18:9resource 6:11 18:15,17resources 7:6 8:16 9:1, 3, 7, 9,12 10:18 11:24 15:5,6 17:21 18:2responsibilities 7:25 8:4responsible 14:16 19:11Restoration 22:7restore 7:7restrain 16:17resulted 19:13resulting 18:20 20:17results 23:9retention 24:21reviewing 16:20Rhonda 1:24 35:7, 22Ridley 22:10,11, 21 23:1,7, 11 25:6

right 2:24 22:5 26:8 28:21 31:16 33:12risk 18:25 19:18 22:18risks 19:1, 6robust 19:17role 17:19Rosenbladt 14:12, 13, 14 29:5 32:3,3 34:4, 7rough 5:22routinely 9:2run 2:21running 31:15Russo 1:24 35:7, 22

< S >safety 19:1sale 18:19salt 15:7Sanctuaries 27:15, 17Sanctuary 27:25 28:5sand 7:6Sandy 7:5scatters 30:25schedule 2:16 11:16science 16:9 20:25 21:2 29:11scientific 16:2 19:12,23 20:2, 7scientifically 32:25scope 4:19Scoping 1:9 4:6, 17, 18 12:2, 11



14:4, 19 16:19 35:6screen 2:17 14:10sea 5:25 6:3, 5, 13,14, 21, 22 9:21 22:6,10, 14, 14, 19 24:13, 17, 19,22 25:2, 3,9 31:24seabeds 31:1Seashore 23:8, 14Seashores 24:1seasonal 20:10 22:24second 11:11 16:24 26:24seconds 30:7 31:13 32:11,12Section 2:4sector 17:18sediments 6:4see 2:16 3:4 8:19 10:16 12:19 13:6 25:15 28:18 34:15seeing 11:10,10 34:10, 20seeking 4:21segment 23:19Seidel 16:25 17:1, 4 21:14 29:6,9, 10 31:6,17, 21seismic 5:20,21, 22, 23 6:7, 8, 13,18, 23 7:6 10:6 14:17

15:4, 8, 10,20, 22 16:6 19:19 22:8 24:10 25:4,7 26:1 32:6selected 33:14selection 23:13 24:4send 13:3, 12sense 28:24sensitive 9:5separation 11:2 20:11series 29:18seriously 24:25serves 22:25Service 3:8,8, 15services 17:16 18:1set 6:13 12:19sets 6:1setting 6:20Seventies 32:16severely 22:13shallow 33:10Shelf 5:9 8:1, 13, 25Shell 14:15,17, 25 15:8,21 16:4 32:4, 23ship 31:15ships 9:20shore 19:20 22:22, 23 23:23 25:8shores 8:8short 9:11 19:20 28:20

30:8shots 30:4show 28:7shown 15:25shut 20:9side 30:25signals 19:21signed 12:21,22 21:25 25:13significant 16:3 19:23Silent 28:15similar 7:17simple 5:23simplest 13:9, 10simultaneously 30:2sir 25:17,24 27:12site 13:20,24 24:4, 6sites 12:11 13:11 23:21 24:9siting 18:1,10Sitting 2:9six 31:15size 30:18sketch 5:22slide 25:19slow 25:19smallest 30:14, 15snail 13:13solid 6:22sort 5:5, 22 10:21sound 6:2 9:19 16:4 17:2 21:16 24:10, 17, 20,21, 23, 25 29:17 30:15,

23 31:1, 11,14, 23 32:12sounding 31:11sounds 31:20 33:6 34:8source 29:17 30:1, 6, 17 31:14, 23 32:5, 10, 21 33:1, 25sources 6:9 9:19 26:25southeast 27:14speak 12:20 14:12, 18 25:15 27:10,16, 18, 19speaker 14:11 16:24 21:24 32:9speakers 12:21, 22 25:13speaking 12:23 29:15specialists 24:14Species 5:16 11:1 16:1 22:12, 14 23:10, 25specifically 22:10 23:11speculation 20:3speed 6:1 31:7spend 22:19spots 23:10spring 22:23squeaks 2:7stable 6:22staff 2:10stage 22:15

stages 22:17 23:4 25:7stakeholder 21:6stakeholders 21:8, 22 28:12standard 24:18standpoint 17:3, 4start 14:11 27:5 28:18 29:14 30:1,3, 14started 2:24start-up 30:4state 8:4 15:4 18:12 35:2, 7statement 3:19 14:20statements 8:15station 12:19staying 31:10Steinhaus 21:25 22:1,3, 3, 5, 6step 4:8 5:2, 18 7:21 8:18 15:13steps 4:6step-wise 4:7 7:21stop 12:25 26:3storm 7:5stratigraphy 6:5strongly 16:8 21:1studied 26:1studies 31:22

study 14:23 23:9 31:24stuff 12:16style 34:2submerged 6:12subsurface 15:7successful 17:20sudden 32:10Suite 35:24summer 22:23 31:24super 7:5supplemented 17:11support 14:22 21:21sure 7:22 13:23 14:7 16:23surface 29:22surrounded 28:5survey 5:23,23 8:12surveying 29:25surveys 5:20,21 11:2 15:24 17:24 19:12, 19 22:8 24:11 25:5switch 30:1switched 30:10systematic 3:24systematically 9:9systems 7:4

< T >

table 10:5 21:14take 4:2 8:14, 23 9:10, 11 11:17 13:15 20:22 21:9 26:4, 20 27:7taken 25:2 28:21 35:7,7takes 5:17 16:10 20:17 21:4talk 2:25 5:20 26:22 27:8 30:8talking 3:18team 14:15,16tease 7:12technical 33:5, 8techniques 8:12 9:17technologies 28:25technology 15:3, 10tell 2:14 9:24 12:6tells 5:11temperature 22:24temporary 19:19tentatively 9:16term 27:4termed 32:10terminals 23:6terms 5:23 29:16 33:5

test 33:17tested 16:15testing 6:13Texas 1:11 25:23 32:24 35:2, 7, 22,25TGS 17:5 29:10, 10 31:23Thank 16:20,21, 24 21:23,24 22:1, 4 25:10, 12 28:13, 19 32:2 34:13,21, 23Thanks 14:18 34:14thing 11:9 26:5, 9, 24 31:10things 5:1,5, 7, 17 6:16, 16, 19 7:3, 6, 12,13, 19 10:3,9 11:2, 4 13:3 26:2 33:5think 6:20 13:7, 13 14:3 26:4 32:15third 21:24 33:15this, 13:7thought 11:12, 12thoughts 4:25 5:5 8:19 11:5,23 12:7, 13 13:4, 5 34:17threats 22:16

three 12:20,21, 23, 25 33:12, 14, 16,19, 22threshold 20:23time 5:18 19:11 21:25 23:18 27:6 29:25 34:22today 14:19 17:6 19:5 21:10Tom 25:23tonight 2:12 4:4, 23 5:20 10:2 13:4 22:8tool 26:14tools 10:17 17:25 18:3top 32:8topic 4:15,16 5:19Total 32:23touch 13:9 14:8towed 29:18,19towers 6:21track 13:23tracked 23:14, 16tracking 23:25trade 17:14transcription 35:7transit 22:22transitory 19:20 31:10transmitter 23:6traps 6:9traveling 2:17 31:4

travels 5:24,25 30:23 31:1Tribal 5:16true 35:7try 5:3 7:11 14:6 25:22 26:15 32:17, 20trying 33:20,24turbine 24:9turbines 24:9turn 16:22turnout 2:15,18, 19Turtle 22:6,10, 14 23:1 24:4, 19turtles 22:14, 19, 21 23:7, 11, 14,16 24:13, 17,22 25:2, 3, 9two 3:2 4:3, 3 26:6 29:1 33:14,15two-and-a-half 4:10two-minute 29:3tympanic 24:18tympanum 24:20type 10:1 32:5types 6:4,14 7:5, 9,18 8:20 10:24, 25 11:1, 3, 4,23 33:6typical 31:7

typically 29:19, 21 30:6 31:6,13, 18

ultimate 20:6umbrella 5:11underscore 23:17underscores 23:23understand 5:8 10:14 24:3underwater 21:16 24:19,21unit 30:14units 29:18 30:16universities 15:9University 25:23unnecessarily 16:17upper 22:20urge 13:21use 3:9 6:13, 18 7:3, 6 16:10 19:20 20:24 21:3utilizes 18:14

< V >valuable 18:12value 17:24 18:16values 21:6variety 5:17 7:3, 8

10:17, 18 26:1various 5:1vary 34:2vendors 33:12, 13verifications 31:23vertebrate 24:18vessel 29:19,20vessels 20:12 31:4viable 32:21vibrator 32:4, 12, 16vibrators 32:5Vibroseis 26:12 29:3 32:4, 6, 21 33:1, 9vibrosity 26:11voice 2:7 21:20volume 30:2,17

< W >want 8:18 10:23, 24, 25 11:13, 13 14:7, 12 25:18 26:6,7 30:12wanted 27:10 34:18wants 12:20 25:15warm 29:14warm-up 30:4warning 30:12, 20

warranted 24:2water 5:24,25 6:2 9:7 15:3 22:16,20, 24, 25 29:22 33:10waters 8:5,6, 7 9:5 15:1 22:22 23:23 25:8waves 24:25way 8:2 9:8 29:5, 6 30:17ways 13:3, 8,13web 13:20week 33:15well 13:14 24:19 25:22 26:3 33:9wells 19:2went 30:11We're 2:2,11 3:18 4:2, 4, 4, 14,19, 20, 20, 23 5:2, 19 7:20, 20, 24 8:2, 16 9:18, 19, 20,22, 23 10:15,18 11:4, 5,9, 10, 16, 18,23 12:2, 4,18, 19, 25 14:9, 16, 20 15:2 18:7 26:4, 18, 18,20 28:16, 17,17 31:7, 10,12 33:11, 20,22, 24

western 14:17 15:15 28:4we've 2:16,17, 18, 19 3:14 11:12 12:1, 11, 13,15, 20, 23 15:24 28:21 33:12, 13white 8:2wind 6:20winter 22:23wish 2:23 17:9 25:2 27:11wishes 21:19WITNESS 35:7work 3:23 21:21 27:14 28:7 32:1 33:9worked 13:19 15:8 32:15,17working 2:11 3:7 26:15 27:23 28:1,10 32:24works 5:8world 15:23 16:16 28:7,10write 9:8written 16:21 17:11

< Y >y'all 2:14 10:2 11:10Yeah 14:13 26:22 31:21 34:4year 4:10 31:24

years 3:16 4:3, 3 8:15 19:8 25:25 27:23

< Z >Zone 5:15zones 10:24 20:10

WORD LIST

< 1 >10 (1)100 (1)1000 (1)12 (2)12-31-13 (1)13-year (2)15 (3)15-minute (2)17 (2)180 (1)1954 (1)1998 (1)

< 2 >20 (1)2011 (1)2013 (3)2014 (1)2015 (1)243 (1)

< 3 >300 (1)31 (1)36 (2)

< 4 >40 (1)40-minute (1)4852 (1)

< 5 >50 (3)5300 (1)

< 6 >6:31 (1)600 (1)

< 7 >7:06 (1)7:21 (1)

713.861.0203 (1)77007 (1)

< 9 >9 (1)

< A >ability (1)able (5)accessibility (1)accumulations (1)accurate (1)achievable (1)acoustic (3)acquiring (2)acquisition (3)Act (6)action (5)actions (2)active (1)activities (12)activity (2)acts (1)adapted (1)add (2)additional (6)address (5)addressing (1)adequately (1)adjourn (1)adjourned (1)adult (2)advances (1)advantages (1)adverse (1)adversely (1)

affiliation (1)agencies (4)agency (9)agency's (1)ago (1)ahead (3)aiding (1)aids (1)air (7)Alaska (1)allocated (1)allow (4)allowing (1)allows (1)alternative (6)alternatives (5)amount (2)analogous (1)analyses (1)analysis (1)analyzed (1)Andrea (7)animals (1)answer (1)anticipating (1)anybody (4)anyone's (1)apart (1)apologize (1)appeal (1)appear (1)appears (1)applicable (1)appreciate (7)appreciation (2)appropriate (3)arbitrary (1)

archaeological (1)area (13)areas (4)array (1)arrays (3)arrived (1)art (1)assess (3)assessing (1)Assessment (1)associated (2)Associates (1)Association (3)attempts (1)attest (1)attorney (1)attractive (2)audience (3)auditory (1)auspices (1)authorities (1)authorizations (2)available (9)

back (7)Banks (2)barely (1)bars (1)based (5)basically (1)beach (2)beaches (2)bear (1)beginning (2)behalf (1)behavior (2)

believe (5)Benthic (1)best (8)better (2)bewildering (1)bid (1)bids (2)big (1)Bill (1)biological (1)biologically (1)birds (1)bit (5)Bob (4)BOEM (8)BOEM.GOV (1)BOEM's (2)bold (1)boom (1)booming (1)boring (1)break (8)breeding (1)brief (1)budgets (1)build (3)builders (1)built (1)Bureau (2)

< C >call (1)called (3)capacity (1)care (1)cared (1)cartoon (1)catching (1)caught (1)CDs (1)central (1)certain (3)certainly (1)

CERTIFICATE (1)certify (2)challenges (1)chance (1)changes (1)channel (1)chemosynethetics (1)chief (1)close (2)closer (1)closures (1)Coastal (4)coating (1)coinciding (1)cold (1)co-lead (1)column (1)combined (1)come (2)comes (2)coming (3)comment (4)comments (16)commercially (1)commitment (1)committed (1)communities (1)companies (4)company (1)competition (1)Compounding (1)concentration (1)concluded (1)concurrent (1)

conditions (2)conduct (2)conducted (3)conducting (1)Congressional (1)consequences (1)conservation (1)consider (6)considered (2)considering (1)Consistent (1)constantly (1)consultations (3)contains (1)context (2)Continental (4)continued (1)continuing (1)contract (2)contractors (3)control (1)conventional (1)cool (1)cooperation (1)copies (2)coral (1)corals (1)core-use (1)Corporation (1)

correct (1)corridor (2)counsel (2)COUNTY (1)couple (5)course (4)Court (2)cover (3)covered (1)covers (1)cranking (1)create (2)created (1)creating (1)creation (1)crew (1)criteria (2)critical (3)critically (1)CSR (3)culture (1)cut (1)cuts (1)cycle (1)

< D >data (12)date (2)day (1)days (1)dealing (1)deals (1)decades (2)decided (2)decision (1)declare (1)deep (3)define (2)defined (1)delineate (1)demonstrated (1)demonstrating (1)

dense (1)depend (1)depleted (1)deployed (1)describe (1)described (1)description (1)descriptive (1)design (1)designed (2)details (1)detect (2)determination (2)determine (1)develop (4)developing (1)Development (9)developments (1)device (1)dialogue (1)different (13)difficult (1)directly (1)discoveries (1)discuss (2)discussing (1)discussion (1)disorient (2)dispersion (1)disrupt (2)distances (2)disturbances (1)document (12)

documents (1)doing (5)dolphin (1)domes (1)doubt (1)downwards (1)DPEIS (1)DR (23)draft (7)drain (1)dramatically (2)draw (1)drilled (1)drops (1)dune (1)durability (1)duration (1)duty (1)

< E >ear (3)earlier (2)early (2)eastern (1)economic (1)economical (1)educational (1)effective (1)effects (7)eight (3)EIS (19)EIS's (1)eliminated (1)e-mail (1)emissions (1)emit (1)employed (2)employee (1)employees (1)employs (1)encourage (1)

Endangered (4)Energy (9)Engineer (1)ensure (3)ensures (1)enters (1)entire (3)environment (6)Environmental (14)

environmentally (1)equipment (1)erosion (1)especially (1)estimate (3)estimates (2)evaluation (1)evening (8)everybody (5)evidence (2)exaggerated (1)examine (1)example (1)exclusion (1)exclusions (1)exists (1)expect (1)experience (1)experts (1)Expiration (1)explain (3)explanation (1)exploration (9)

express (2)expressed (1)extinction (1)Exxon (1)

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Page 1

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9 BOEM's Scoping Meeting on

10 The Development of an EIS

11 Held in Galveston, Texas

12 June 17, 2013

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24 Court Reporter: Rhonda Russo, CSR

25

Page 2

1 (6:31 p.m.)

2 MR. GOEKE: Good evening. We're going to

3 go on the record, please. My name is Gary Goeke. I'm

4 the chief of the Environmental Assessment Section with

5 the Bureau of Ocean Engineer Management in New Orleans.

6 I'm fighting a cold as you can no doubt hear. So, if my

7 voice squeaks out every now and then, please bear with

8 me.

9 Sitting with me this evening is Andrea

10 Heckman. Andrea is one of our staff in New Orleans

11 working on the document that we're going to be discussing

12 tonight, and we have a number of other BOEM employees who

13 are around this evening.

14 And let me tell you I appreciate y'all

15 coming out this evening. This is the best turnout that

16 we've had. As you can see from the schedule that we have

17 up on the screen, we've been traveling quite a bit

18 lately. We've had relatively light turnout. This is the

19 best turnout we've had, and I appreciate all of you

20 coming out this evening.

21 Andrea is going to run the projector

22 for me because we found out that our little remote is not

23 quite as reliable as we wish it was.

24 All right. Andrea, let's get started.

25 We are here this evening to talk about

Page 3

1 the preparation of an EIS for geological and geophysical

2 activities in the Gulf of Mexico. There are two agencies

3 involved -- the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which

4 our -- which we represent primarily and as you can see up

5 here we have the mandate that our agency has and some of

6 our primary purposes. And the other -- we have a co-lead

7 with us this evening. Working on the EIS is National

8 Marine Fishery Service. National Marine Fishery Service

9 will use some of the information that we are going to

10 publish in the document to help fulfill the obligations

11 that their agency has.

12 This is the BOEM's Congressional

13 mandate. The agency, although we are moderately new,

14 we've been around for a while in the former agency,

15 Minerals Management Service. So, while our agency has

16 only been here for a couple of years, we do have

17 authorities that date back to 1954.

18 What we're going to be talking about is

19 the preparation of an environmental impact statement.

20 EIS's are built under the auspices of the National

21 Environmental Policy Act, also known as NEPA; and we

22 generally refer to it as NEPA. NEPA is the act that

23 created the mandate for Federal agencies to work and

24 create a systematic evaluation of their proposed

25 actions.

Page 4

1 The development of an EIS is a fairly

2 lengthy process. We're anticipating that it will take a

3 couple of years, two to two and a half years, to create

4 the document that we're here to discuss tonight. We're

5 at the very beginning of this process known as the

6 scoping process; but the EIS has many steps. We lay out

7 all of these different issues in a step-wise fashion, and

8 one by one we step through these processes.

9 We are at the very beginning of this

10 two-and-a-half year process here. The very first part of

11 the process is to prepare what's known as a notice of

12 intent to prepare an EIS. That is something where we --

13 that we publish in the Federal register, we put out

14 information, and we let everybody know that we're going

15 to be preparing the document and what the topic is.

16 Generally we identify just a topic; and

17 the purpose of the scoping meeting, which is where we are

18 now -- the purpose of the scoping meeting is to define

19 the nature and the scope of the EIS that we're going to

20 be addressing, and that's what we're looking and we're

21 seeking comments for from everyone on how big the EIS is

22 and what the issues are that we should cover.

23 So, that's why we're here tonight, to

24 receive comments from anyone who may be interest, to

25 receive comments on what your thoughts may be as to the



Page 5

1 nature of the document, some of the various things that

2 we examine in our document, and we're going to step

3 through this and I'm going to try and give you a little

4 bit of information about how we do this and some of the

5 different things we look at to sort of get your thoughts

6 on those.

7 One of the things that everybody needs

8 to understand is our agency is one agency that works on

9 the Outer Continental Shelf and there are a lot of

10 required consultations under NEPA. The National

11 Environmental Policy Act is an umbrella law that tells us

12 you have to consider all of the applicable Federal laws,

13 and you have to do consultations with all of the

14 different agencies. This deals with everywhere from the

15 Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Coastal Zone Management

16 Act, Endangered Species, Tribal Consultations, a whole

17 variety of things. So, you can imagine that it takes

18 quite a bit of time to step through these processes.

19 But the topic that we're really here to

20 talk about tonight is seismic surveys and the creation of

21 an EIS looking at seismic surveys. This is a cartoon

22 sketch that sort of gives a rough idea of what a seismic

23 survey is. In real simple terms, a seismic survey is

24 putting an impulse of energy into the water that travels

25 through the water, reflects off the sea floor and travels

Page 6

1 back up to different sets of receivers. And by the speed

2 of the sound and the conditions of the water, the

3 conditions of the sea floor, we can draw a picture. We

4 can get an idea of the types of sediments and

5 stratigraphy under the sea floor.

6 There are four primary purposes in the

7 Gulf of Mexico for why seismic operations are performed.

8 In oil and gas, seismic is obviously very important for

9 locating and identifying potential sources and traps of

10 petroleum products.

11 In the biological resource and

12 submerged culture identification, there are a lot of

13 seismic testing that we can use to remotely set up sea

14 floor types to determine whether they're hard sea floors,

15 whether they may have the potential for chemosynethetics

16 and a number of other things like corals and things like

17 this.

18 We also use seismic actions for

19 renewable energy. One of the things that you have to

20 think about is if you're going to be setting up a wind

21 farm and say you are putting 300 towers in the sea floor,

22 you need to know that you have a stable, solid sea floor

23 to put your monopiles into. So, the seismic is important

24 in that.

25 And also, for marine minerals

Page 7

1 investigations. When we have hurricanes that move

2 through, when we have coastal erosion in Louisiana, when

3 we have a variety of things that we use offshore minerals

4 to renourish the beach or to build dune systems or when

5 super storm Sandy comes through, these are the types of

6 things that we use seismic to locate sand resources so

7 that we can go in and help restore the beaches.

8 There are a bewildering variety of

9 G & G types of activities as we have folks in the

10 audience who can attest to this. It is -- and our EIS

11 it's going to be an -- it's going to be a job to try and

12 tease things apart, to address them individually but to

13 address them -- lump them together and things like this.

14 Some of these are dramatically different -- in

15 geophysical and in geological, some of these are

16 dramatically different from each other so that we need to

17 be able to put them together, the ones that have similar

18 types of potential impacts.

19 And there are some of things that have

20 very low impacts; but we're going to list them all, we're

21 going to step through them in a step-wise fashion and

22 make sure that we address them all.

23 The area of interest for our EIS that

24 we're going to be putting together is the entire northern

25 Gulf of Mexico. Our agency has responsibilities on the

Page 8

1 entire Outer Continental Shelf; and if you follow the

2 white line all the way around, that's the area that we're

3 going to be following. Now, National Marine Fisheries,

4 of course, has responsibilities that go inside into state

5 waters. So, our agency has only authorizations on -- in

6 the Federal waters; but National Marine Fisheries has

7 them up in the coastal waters. So, the EIS will go

8 closer to shores than most of our documents have in the

9 past.

10 The purpose of the EIS is to assess the

11 potential environmental effects of the

12 geological/geophysical survey techniques that are used on

13 the Outer Continental Shelf. As I said, this is going to

14 take a while; and we have -- we have been doing

15 environmental impact statements for a number of years.

16 So, we have an idea of the resources that we're going to

17 be looking at. We have a good idea of what the potential

18 impacting factors may be. So, I want to step through

19 those for you and get your thoughts and see if you have

20 any reaction to those types.

21 The need for the programmatic as I

22 mentioned before, BOEM has an obligation to permit G & G

23 activities and NMFS through their Incidental Take

24 Authorizations also has requirements on the Outer

25 Continental Shelf; and this is the purpose for the EIS.



Page 9

1 These are the resources that we have

2 routinely analyzed for oil and gas activities in the Gulf

3 of Mexico. We have a long list of resources that covers

4 everything from the very near in-shore to the very deep

5 waters, everything from potentially sensitive Benthic

6 communities far offshore, near-shore archaeological

7 resources, water air quality, coastal and marine birds.

8 And the way you write an EIS is you go through and you

9 describe all of these resources systematically and then

10 you take the potential impacting factors -- and this is

11 the short list. You take the potential impacting factors

12 and you lay them up against the resources that you just

13 described and go through what the potential impacts may

14 be.

15 So, these are some of the impacting

16 factors that we tentatively identified that may have some

17 relationship to the geological or geophysical techniques

18 that are going to be used. We're going to look at

19 everything from the active sound sources, we're going to

20 look at air emissions on the ships that are used, we're

21 going to look at sea floor disturbances.

22 And what we're looking for is down

23 here. We're looking for people who are knowledgeable,

24 people who can tell us, you know, this is a pretty good

25 list. You covered most everything but you may have

Page 10

1 forgotten this or this. And those are the type of

2 comments that we love to get from y'all tonight.

3 One of the things you do as you go

4 through creating an EIS is you look at the alternatives.

5 We have a proposal on the table. The proposal is to

6 allow oil and gas and seismic and the alternative energy

7 and all these G & G activities to move forward if we meet

8 certain criteria, if we do the -- if we get the permits

9 and things like that; but we have to look at other

10 alternatives. And one is known as the no action

11 alternative.

12 No action alternative is where you

13 don't allow the alternative to happen, and you look at

14 the impacts. If you say we understand your proposed

15 action but we're not going to allow it to happen, let's

16 see what happens then. And then there are, of course, as

17 you can imagine with the variety of geophysical tools

18 that are available, the variety of resources that we're

19 looking at, there's a number of other alternatives that

20 we can put together.

21 A lot of them are sort of gradient.

22 You know, pick a point inside the gradient and you look

23 at whether we may want to consider -- look at whether we

24 may want to look at different types of exclusions zones.

25 Maybe we want to consider different types of marine

Page 11

1 species observers offshore, maybe we have different types

2 of separation distances for concurrent surveys and things

3 like that. These are the types of alternatives that

4 we're looking at. These are the types of things that

5 we're looking to get your thoughts on.

6 If there's something on here -- these

7 are the example of the mitigation measures that we will

8 likely look at in our EIS; but if there's some other

9 thing that we're not catching, if there's something else

10 that y'all are seeing that we're not seeing, this is what

11 we'd like to hear. And we don't for a second believe

12 that we've thought of everything that needs to be thought

13 of. And so, we want the general public, we want all the

14 knowledgeable folks to help us define all of these

15 issues.

16 This is the schedule that we're dealing

17 with at this point. It's going to take quite a while to

18 get this done. We're looking at a record of decision in

19 mid to late 2015 but the bold red is the areas where we

20 have opportunities for public comment and we would like

21 the public to join, we would like the public to become

22 part of the process. We would like very much to get your

23 thoughts on the types of analyses that we're doing, what

24 the resources are, what the alternatives are.

25 So, we have -- at the notice of intent

Page 12

1 that we've already passed, we have a public comment

2 period. We have scoping meetings that we're going

3 through now. In the middle -- somewhere around the

4 mid-2014, we're going to publish the draft document. We

5 would love everybody to be able to read the draft

6 document, give us comments on the document and tell us

7 what your thoughts are.

8 When that draft document comes out in

9 the middle of 2014, we will do public hearings like this

10 all over again. We will go around probably to the same

11 sites that we've done our scoping on. We will hold

12 meetings just like this to ask for your comment and your

13 thoughts on the draft document that we've published. And

14 then, hopefully by early to mid-2015 we'll have a final

15 document that incorporates all the comments that we've

16 gotten, that incorporates the helpful stuff, and go

17 forward from there.

18 So, what we're going to do, we have a

19 station set up as you can see. We're going to ask

20 anybody who wants to speak. We've had, I believe, three

21 speakers who have previously signed up. We had three

22 speakers who have signed up and expressed an interest in

23 speaking. We have three minutes, but we've got a lot

24 longer than that. So, I'm not going to hold anybody; and

25 we're not going to jump up and stop you if you hit three



Page 13

1 and a half minutes.

2 But let me cover a couple of other

3 things first. We do have lots of ways for you to send in

4 information. If you have thoughts -- after tonight if

5 you have thoughts that you said, "You know what, I didn't

6 see them cover this" or "that guy said something that

7 really made me think about this," you have until July 9

8 and you have a number of different ways of getting in

9 touch with us. Perhaps the simplest is just this

10 simplest little e-mail, [email protected].

11 But we also have other sites, one at

12 regulations.gov; or you can just send me a letter by

13 snail mail, any of these ways. I think my own phone

14 number is out there on some of this as well. So, you can

15 call us and I will hand you to Andrea and Andrea can take

16 your comment.

17 MS. HECKMAN: I'll be happy to help you.

18 MR. GOEKE: Also, there is quite a bit of

19 information. Andrea and her crew have worked very hard

20 at putting together information on the web site out

21 here. I would urge you if you're interested and you

22 really would like to know what is happening with this EIS

23 and to track it and make sure that you're getting the

24 latest information, this is the site, BOEM.GOV. And

25 again, it's just gomgg. This has the programmatic EIS on

Page 14

1 it.

2 And here's how you join our mailing

3 list. I think most people have gotten copies of this

4 scoping presentation. So, you have hard copies of how to

5 get on our mailing list. We'd encourage you to do this.

6 This is how we really try to get information from folks,

7 and this is how we want to make sure that we keep in

8 touch with everybody.

9 So, what we're going to do with that

10 pretty picture up on the screen is we are going to go

11 ahead is start up. And the first speaker is Bob

12 Rosenbladt. Bob, did you want to speak to us?

13 MR. ROSENBLADT: Yeah, please. Hi, I'm Bob

14 Rosenbladt; and I'm very glad to be here. I'm

15 representing Shell E & P Corporation. I'm team lead for

16 the geophysical operations team. We're responsible for

17 acquiring seismic for Shell in the western hemisphere.

18 Thanks for the opportunity to speak

19 today about the scoping of this draft programmatic

20 environmental impact statement. We're very pleased that

21 BOEM and NMFS are moving forward with this PEIS which

22 will support the issuance of regulations and permits to

23 conduct geological and geophysical study activities in

24 the Gulf of Mexico.

25 Shell is one the largest lease holders

Page 15

1 in the Federal OCS waters and one of the largest

2 producers of oil and natural gas in the OCS. We're a

3 technology leader in the deep water Gulf of Mexico and

4 depend on the state of the art seismic imaging to find

5 and develop oil and gas resources.

6 These resources are hard to find, often

7 hiding behind subsurface salt domes, which obscure the

8 seismic record. Shell has worked with our contractors,

9 universities, and our industry partners to develop new

10 advances in seismic technology that not only have a

11 better chance of finding oil and gas accumulations but

12 also minimize the environmental footprint.

13 This PEIS is a needed first step to

14 begin the process of generating the data that will allow

15 for additional production in the central and western Gulf

16 and the potential for future discoveries in the eastern

17 Gulf should that area be made available for leasing and

18 development in the future.

19 The offshore oil and gas industry has

20 demonstrated the ability to conduct seismic exploration

21 activities in a manner that protects marine life. Shell

22 has conducted seismic operations for decades in many of

23 the offshore provinces around the world. Most recently

24 we've conducted surveys in the Gulf of Mexico and in

25 Alaska. Our monitoring activities have shown that

Page 16

1 there's been no injury to any marine mammal species.

2 Furthermore, there's no scientific evidence demonstrating

3 biologically significant adverse impacts on marine mammal

4 populations. Shell is a member of the OGP Sound and

5 Marine Life Joint Industry Program, which is conducting

6 research on the potential effects of seismic on marine

7 mammals.

8 We strongly believe that the PEIS must


10 use of allocated models to estimate incidental takes and

11 fully consider the environmental context when making any

12 determination of environmental effects on mitigation

13 measures.

14 Furthermore, any new mitigation

15 measures ordered in the PEIS must be tested in the real

16 world to ensure that they are practical and don't

17 unnecessarily restrain operations.

18 We appreciate the opportunity to

19 provide comments in this scoping process and look forward

20 to reviewing the draft PEIS. Thank you.

21 MR. GOEKE: Thank you. If you have written

22 comments, if you care to turn it in, it will help to make

23 sure we have an accurate representation of what you

24 said. That's fine. Thank you. Our second speaker,

25 Peter Seidel.



Page 17

1 MR. SEIDEL: Good evening. This is going

2 to sound a little repetitious; but obviously more from

3 the geophysical standpoint rather than the oil company

4 standpoint. But my name is Peter Seidel. I'm with

5 the -- I'm with TGS NOPEC and the IAGC; and I'm here

6 today really representing the International Association

7 of Geophysical Contractors, which is the IAGC.

8 On behalf of the IAGC and the

9 geophysical industry, I wish to express our appreciation

10 for the opportunity to make the following comments which

11 will be supplemented by written comments regarding the

12 development of the PEIS for G & G activities in the Gulf

13 of Mexico.

14 The IAGC is the international trade

15 association representing the industry that provides

16 geophysical acquisition, processing and other services to

17 the energy industry, including both conventional and as

18 you mentioned earlier, the renewable energy sector. The

19 IAGC member companies play an integral role in the

20 successful operation in the development of offshore oil

21 and natural gas resources through the acquisition and

22 processing the geophysical data.

23 Just a few comments on why we -- the

24 value of geophysical data. Geophysical surveys are the

25 key tools used in oil and natural gas exploration and the

Page 18

1 siting of renewable energy facilities. Our services are

2 critical to the development to the hydrocarbon resources

3 and are one of the very first tools used in exploration

4 process aiding E & P companies in their analysis and

5 identification of the most prospective areas for future

6 oil and natural gas exploration.

7 We're on the same page. Geophysical

8 data is also critical to the development of renewable

9 energy. High resolution and geophysical data and

10 geotechnical boring aids the siting and design of

11 renewable energy and facilities. Geophysical data is

12 also valuable to the Federal government and even to state

13 governments.

14 The BOEM utilizes data to assess the

15 resource potential of the OCS and ensures the Federal

16 government receives a fair market value for the

17 resource.

18 Having gotten geophysical data prior to

19 the lease sale allows industry to make a more informed

20 bid resulting in higher bids and actually more bids

21 promoting greater competition of accessibility to the GOM

22 exploration.

23 How the geophysical industry meets the

24 environmental challenges, modern geophysical imaging

25 reduces risk both economical and of exploration and

Page 19

1 production but also associated safety and health risks.

2 It reduces the number of wells that need to be drilled in

3 a given area. So, reducing the overall exploration and

4 development and production footprint.

5 The modern geophysical imaging of today

6 is used more and more to protect drain risks that can

7 later be managed or even eliminated.

8 The geophysical industry's 50 years of

9 experience in the Gulf of Mexico planning, acquiring and

10 processing geophysical data in an environmentally

11 friendly and responsible manner. During that time there

12 has been no scientific evidence that our surveys have

13 resulted in a auditory or physical injury to a marine

14 mammal or have adversely impacted marine mammal

15 population.

16 Nevertheless, the industry employs a

17 number of robust mitigation measures to further reduce

18 the negligible risk of harm to marine mammals. It is

19 important to remember that seismic surveys are temporary

20 and transitory and use low frequency short duration shore

21 signals.

22 Though additional information is needed

23 to some areas, there's a significant amount of scientific

24 information available, many of it funded by government

25 agencies, regarding the potential effects of the E & P

Page 20

1 activities on the marine environment. This information

2 and data from the scientific literature, and not

3 speculation, should be used when assessing potential

4 impacts of G & G activities on the environment.

5 A few comments regarding the

6 development of this draft PEIS. The ultimate considered

7 in the PEIS should only be based on scientific and/or

8 observed effects. And therefore, not include

9 overly-restrictive mitigation measures such as shut down

10 if a dolphin enters an exclusion zones, seasonal closures

11 and large arbitrary and impractical separation distances

12 between geophysical vessels. These are fortunately

13 mitigation measures that are not necessary to protect

14 marine animals.

15 In the past the BOEM has relied on

16 models and methodologies to estimate the number of marine

17 mammals incidental takes resulting in highly exaggerated

18 estimates, especially considering the lack of any

19 observable injuries, mortalities or population level

20 behavior effects.

21 Compounding this problem the agency's

22 previous take number estimates are only achievable by

23 using acoustic threshold criteria based on obsolete data

24 that does not meet the NEPA requirement to use the best

25 available science.



Page 21

1 We strongly believe that the DPEIS must


3 use of models and methodologies to estimate incidental

4 takes and fully consider the environmental context when

5 making a determination for environmental consequences.

6 The IAGC values the stakeholder process

7 and are committed to participating in a dialogue with all

8 stakeholders to explain what we do, why we do it and the

9 measures we take to protect the environment.

10 And I have with me today some --

11 several educational items and CDs and some handouts which

12 I can -- where am I going to put these later?

13 MR. GOEKE: They can -- in the back.

14 MR. SEIDEL: Put them on the table in the

15 back. And these explain the modern geophysical data

16 acquisition, underwater sound and the measures the

17 geophysical industry implements to ensure minimal impacts

18 of our operation on the environment.

19 And again, the IAGC wishes to express

20 our appreciation for this opportunity to voice our

21 support and commitment to work with the BOEM and all

22 stakeholders in developing of the Gulf of Mexico PEIS.

23 Thank you very much.

24 MR. GOEKE: Thank you. Our third speaker

25 who signed up ahead of time, Joanie Steinhaus.

Page 22

1 MS. STEINHAUS: Thank you.

2 MR. GOEKE: Did I get close to your name?

3 MS. STEINHAUS: Steinhaus.

4 MR. GOEKE: Okay. Thank you.

5 MS. STEINHAUS: All right. My name is

6 Joanie Steinhaus, and I represent the Sea Turtle

7 Restoration Project. So, I appreciate the opportunity to

8 address the panel tonight on the seismic surveys and

9 their impact on the marine environment in the Gulf of

10 Mexico and specifically the Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle.

11 The Kemp's Ridley is listed as critically endangered

12 under the Endangered Species Act, and the population is

13 severely depleted and is considered the most endangered

14 sea turtle species. These sea turtles are long-lived and

15 have a long juvenile stage. This combined with many

16 threats from human activities in the Gulf water and on

17 land affects all stages of their live and they are the

18 reason for their high risk of extinction.

19 Most sea turtles spend a high

20 percentage of their life in the upper level of the water

21 column, less than 180 feet. The Kemp's Ridley turtles

22 transit between near shore and offshore waters within 50

23 miles from shore from spring/summer to fall/winter

24 coinciding with seasonal water temperature changes. The

25 near-shore Gulf of Mexico water serves as a prime

Page 23

1 foraging habitat for post-nesting Kemp's Ridley Turtle,

2 adult migrating between breeding and foraging habitats,

3 and by post-hatchling and juveniles during early life

4 stages.

5 A recently published paper focused on

6 31 platform transmitter terminals there were deployed on

7 Kemp's Ridley turtles that nested at Padre Island

8 National Seashore and Rancho Nuevo over a 13-year period

9 between 1998 and 2011. The results of this study defined

10 critical foraging hot spots for this species and

11 specifically for post-nesting Kemp's Ridley turtles in

12 the northern Gulf of Mexico.

13 Consistent selection of this region by

14 turtles tracked from the Padre Island National Seashore

15 over a 13-year period, concentration of core-use foraging

16 area for turtles tracked from both Rancho Nuevo and Padre

17 Island and the high forging area fidelity underscore the

18 importance of this habitat across time and for

19 individuals from the largest segment of the nesting

20 population the females at Ranch Nuevo.

21 The dispersion of foraging sites

22 indicates that a foraging corridor exists in the near

23 shore Gulf of Mexico waters and underscores the need for

24 international cooperation for conservation of this

25 imperiled species. Additional and continued tracking of

Page 24

1 adult females from both Padre Island National Seashores

2 and Rancho Nuevo nesting beaches is warranted to further

3 delineate this corridor and to understand details of the

4 turtle behavior linked to foraging site selection, both

5 across the migratory pathway and the final foraging

6 site.

7 It is difficult in your information

8 that you have posted on line to locate the proposed

9 turbine sites or the number of turbines to be placed in

10 the Gulf, and the sound associated with the seismic

11 surveys produces pulse loud enough to disrupt and

12 disorient marine life.

13 Sea turtles appear to be low frequency

14 specialists with best hearing projected to occur between

15 the frequency range of 50 to 1000 hertz.

16 Based on the functional morphology of

17 the ear, it appears that sea turtles receive sound

18 through the standard vertebrate tympanic middle ear path;

19 and the sea turtle is well adapted to detect underwater

20 sound. The dense layer of fat under the tympanum acts as

21 a channel for underwater sound and the retention of air

22 in the middle ear, indicating sea turtles are able to

23 detect sound pressure.

24 We must adequately consider the

25 possibility that sound waves could seriously injure,



Page 25

1 disrupt migration and feeding, disorient and even kill

2 sea turtles. We wish to know what measures will be taken

3 to ensure the sea turtles are protected from the negative

4 impact of the seismic activity in this project area.

5 Past projects have focused on beach surveys to identify

6 the nesting Ridley females but have failed to assess the

7 impact to other life stages. We believe seismic activity

8 should be conducted only in months when near shore waters

9 are cool and less likely to impact the sea turtles.

10 These months are November through March. Thank you for

11 allowing me this opportunity to address the panel.

12 MR. GOEKE: Thank you. I appreciate it.

13 That is all the speakers that we had that signed up

14 beforehand. What we are going to do, I'm going to ask to

15 see if there's anybody that wants to speak now; and if

16 so, come up, give us your name, your affiliation. Yes,

17 sir.

18 DR. LINTON: I want to ask a couple of

19 questions from your slide slow.

20 MR. GOEKE: You can ask. I don't know that

21 I can answer.

22 DR. LINTON: Well, I can certainly try. My

23 name is Tom Linton. I'm with Texas A & M University.


25 DR. LINTON: And many, many years ago I

Page 26

1 studied the effects of seismic exploration on a variety

2 of things.

3 MR. GOEKE: Okay. Well, let me stop you,

4 please. We're about to take a break. I think the best

5 thing is for us to have a discussion during the break.

6 DR. LINTON: I want to ask you two

7 questions. I don't want to discuss anything.

8 MR. GOEKE: Okay. All right.

9 DR. LINTON: There was a thing, and I just

10 barely caught the end of it, a called device called a

11 marine "vibrosity"?

12 MR. GOEKE: Vibroseis.

13 DR. LINTON: What is that?

14 MR. GOEKE: It's a new tool that they're

15 working on to try to develop and --

16 DR. LINTON: What does it do? What does it

17 look like?

18 MR. GOEKE: We're going to -- we're going

19 to --

20 DR. LINTON: Maybe we're going to take a

21 break and --

22 MR. GOEKE: Yeah, let's talk some at the

23 break.

24 DR. LINTON: Okay. And the second thing,

25 you're going to ramp up acoustic sources.

Page 27

1 MR. GOEKE: Yes.

2 DR. LINTON: "Ramping up" means cranking

3 them up.

4 MR. GOEKE: Ramping up in this term means

5 that they start off very low and they build over a period

6 of time so that they can -- again, break.

7 DR. LINTON: Let's take a break, and I'll

8 talk to him.

9 MR. GOEKE: Was there anyone else that

10 wanted to speak?

11 DR. KIENE: I wish to.


13 DR. KIENE: My name is Bill Kiene, and I

14 work for the southeast region of NOAA's Office of

15 National Marine Sanctuaries. It maybe not appropriate

16 that I speak for NOAA's Offices of National Marine

17 Sanctuaries, but I will --

18 MR. GOEKE: Speak for yourself.

19 DR. KIENE: I will speak as -- make some

20 personal comments.

21 MR. GOEKE: Okay.

22 DR. KIENE: And we have had a very

23 productive working relationship with BOEM over the years,

24 particularly at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine

25 Sanctuary at the Gulf, 100 miles off of Galveston here.

Page 28

1 And because of that working relationship with not only

2 you and the petroleum industry, Flower Garden Banks are

3 probably the most healthiest coral reefs in the entire

4 western hemisphere.

5 This is -- the sanctuary is surrounded

6 by probably the most industrialized part of the ocean and

7 the world, and it goes to show that we can all work

8 together to have a healthy environment and to have the

9 economic developments that we need in the offshore

10 world. So, look forward to continuing that good working

11 relationship with you, with the industry and the

12 stakeholders in the Gulf.

13 MR. GOEKE: Thank you. Is there anyone

14 else?

15 (Silent pause.)

16 MR. GOEKE: Okay. What we're going to do

17 is we're going to adjourn for 15 minutes; and then, we're

18 going to start back up after 15 minutes and see if

19 anyone's got additional comments. Thank you.

20 (Short recess from 7:06 to 7:21.)

21 MR. GOEKE: All right. We've taken our

22 15-minute break; and during the course of the 15-minute

23 break, we had a question posed to us that seemed to make

24 a lot of sense. The question posed was: Could we give a

25 brief descriptive of a couple of the technologies that we



Page 29

1 had some questions about. So, I've imposed on two of our

2 experts in the audience. If you would, give us a

3 two-minute explanation of the marine vibroseis and the

4 air guns? Is that what you --

5 MR. ROSENBLADT: The other way around.

6 MR. SEIDEL: The other way around.

7 MR. GOEKE: If you would, go ahead and

8 reintroduce your.

9 MR. SEIDEL: Again, my name is Peter

10 Seidel. I'm with the TGS NOPEC or TGS Geophysical

11 Science and representing the IAGC, the International

12 Association of Geophysical Contractors.

13 The question was regarding this ramp-up

14 and you may hear it called the warm start, but generally

15 speaking -- and I apologize for the people here who know

16 more about this, but I will explain it in laymen's terms

17 so everybody is the on same page here. The sound source

18 is a series of air pressure units that are towed behind

19 the vessel. They can typically be maybe 36 of them towed

20 in different arrays directly behind the vessel that are

21 typically about eight meters, eight meters deep below the

22 surface of the water.

23 And in the good old days before we

24 really cared very much about what was going on, when we

25 came onto the line that we were surveying and it was time

Page 30

1 to start firing the source, we would just switch all of

2 the guns on simultaneously and at full volume and full

3 capacity and start booming away. We would do a few

4 warm-up shots before we got to the start-up line and then

5 we would progress down the line.

6 Typically the source is fired every 10

7 to 12 seconds on the line. It's a relatively low

8 frequency. It's a short impulse. So, when we talk about

9 ramp-up, it seemed logical that if there were marine

10 mammals in the area when we just switched all of these

11 guns on them and went boom, it seemed logical that we

12 might want to give them a little bit of a warning. So,

13 what we decided or what industry decided to do was to

14 start firing the smallest unit which gives us the

15 smallest amount of sound; and over a 20 to 40-minute

16 period, just gradually add the other units in until we

17 reach full volume. That way the source is gradually

18 increasing in size and the effective area of the noise.

19 So, if there were any marine mammals, obviously the

20 intention was is this would give them warning and be able

21 to move.

22 And that is that. I should also say

23 that these arrays are designed so that the sound travels

24 predominantly downwards. It is fair to say there's some

25 side scatters from these, but they're designed so the

Page 31

1 array -- the sound travels down into the seabeds. So,

2 any questions on that?

3 MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE: Would you be able

4 to let us know how fast the vessels are traveling while

5 this is going on?

6 DR. SEIDEL: Typically about four and a

7 half knots is a typical production speed. So, we're

8 moving through the area. So, if there's -- you know,

9 like I mentioned in my comments earlier, it's a

10 transitory thing. So, it's not as if we're staying in

11 one area and constantly sounding -- producing the sound

12 in the same area. We're moving along; and as I

13 mentioned, it's typically every 12 to 15 seconds we emit

14 the sound source.

15 DR. LINTON: Your ship is running six to

16 eight knots, right?

17 DR. SEIDEL: No. In production about four

18 and a half knots typically.

19 DR. LINTON: Have you made -- are there

20 graphs of what those ramp-up sounds --

21 DR. SEIDEL: Yeah, there are. In fact,

22 there's ongoing studies. And part of the JIP is one of

23 the sound source verifications. TGS is also doing

24 another study this year, this summer, in the North Sea.

25 So, yes, that information is available; but there is

Page 32

1 still a lot of work to do on them.

2 MR. GOEKE: Thank you very much.

3 MR. ROSENBLADT: Bob Rosenbladt from

4 Shell. And the marine vibroseis, or marine vibrator, is

5 a different type of source. It's analogous to vibrators

6 or vibroseis that is used in land seismic exploration. I

7 guess the best description that I can come up with off

8 the top of my head would just basically be like a loud

9 speaker. And instead of an air gun, which is kind of

10 termed an impulsive source where you get a sudden

11 increase in pressure and then quiet for many seconds, the

12 marine vibrator outputs sound over several seconds so

13 that the peak pressure is lower but the duty cycle, if

14 you will, is longer.

15 I think Peter said he worked on a

16 marine vibrator back in the Seventies. That's something

17 the industry has worked on periodically to try to get

18 fruition. Often progress has been made to impress oil

19 drops and then R & D budgets are cuts. So, there's been

20 kind of many attempts over the decades to try and get a

21 viable marine vibroseis source available.

22 Presently there's a joint industry

23 project being funded by Shell, Exxon Mobile and Total

24 working together through our friends here at Texas A & M

25 to develop a commercially available and scientifically



Page 33

1 attractive marine vibroseis source to give us an

2 alternative in some locations where it would be

3 preferable perhaps over air guns.

4 It also potentially could have

5 technical advantages in terms of things like phasing

6 coating -- you know, different types of output sounds

7 that you're doing, not just environmental reasons but

8 technical reasons might give us an attractive appeal.

9 Also the marine vibroseis may very well work better in

10 very shallow water.

11 So, presently that's what we're doing

12 right now going forward is we've got three vendors.

13 We've gone and looked at 36 potential vendors, and we

14 selected three. We have two of those under contract; and

15 third contract we expect almost within the week or two,

16 very close. So, those three companies we plan to have

17 each of them build a prototype. We'll test it both for

18 acoustic output and durability and then we potentially

19 might then go forward with three full arrays.

20 And what we're really trying to do is

21 launch this is into the industry. This is not what these

22 three companies do as a matter of course. We're not

23 equipment builders. We look for oil and gas, but it

24 would give us -- we're trying to get something out there

25 in the industry to give us another alternative source.

Page 34

1 Any questions?

2 DR. LINTON: The old style could vary

3 peaks. Is that still --

4 MR. ROSENBLADT: Yeah, that would be the --

5 DR. LINTON: So, you can be -- I don't know

6 how to say it -- cut --

7 MR. ROSENBLADT: There could be certain

8 areas where you only know certain frequency sounds are

9 going to be of interest. You know, if you're in an area

10 where you're seeing that you only get 40 hertz and below,

11 there's no point in outputting frequencies above that.

12 So, it gives us more control.

13 MR. GOEKE: Thank you very much. I

14 appreciate that. Thanks both of you. Let's get back to

15 the purpose of the meeting, which was to see if we had

16 anyone else who had possibly arrived late or anybody who

17 had some additional thoughts, additional comments that

18 they wanted to add.

19 DR. LINTON: Let's hit the bars.

20 MR. GOEKE: Seeing none. I declare us

21 adjourned. Thank you all very much for coming. I

22 appreciate your time.

23 MS. HECKMAN: Thank you very much.

24 (Meeting concluded.)

25

Page 35

1

2 STATE OF TEXAS )

3 GALVESTON COUNTY)

4

5 REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE

6 BOEM SCOPING MEETING

7 TAKEN JUNE 17, 2013

8 I, Rhonda Russo, Court Reporter in and for

9 the State of Texas, do hereby certify that the above and

10 foregoing contains a true and correct transcription of

11 the meeting that took place.

12 I further certify that I am neither

13 attorney nor counsel for, related to or employed by any

14 of the parties to the action in which this meeting is

15 taken and further, that I am not a relative or employee

16 of any counsel employed by the parties hereto or

17 financially interested in the action.

18 WITNESS MY OFFICIAL HAND this the _____day

19 of _______________, 2013.

20

21 __________________________

22 RHONDA RUSSO, CSR Texas CSR 4852

23 Expiration Date 12-31-13 Firm Registration No. 243

24 Nell McCallum & Associates 5300 Memorial, Suite 600

25 Houston, Texas 77007 713.861.0203

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