Friday 8 March 2019

Oil firm aims to extend Dorset coast drilling despite marine life risk


Environment groups oppose licence for Corallian Energy extractions along protected coastline running to March
Thu 14 Feb 2019 14.22 GMTLast modified on Thu 14 Feb 2019 15.30 GMT
An oil company drilling off the Dorset coastline is attempting to extend its licence into the spring, challenging the conditions imposed to protect the sea’s many sensitive wildlife species.
Corallian Energy has set up a rig visible from the protected coastline and in close proximity to 58 marine and coastal protected areas. Sensitive and protected species offshore include bottlenose dolphins, seahorses, rays and breeding populations of seabirds including sandwich terns and little terns.
Despite opposition from environmentalists and local people, the government offshore petroleum regulator (Opred), part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, gave permission for Corallian to carry out exploratory drilling last year.
But after representations from the Environment Agency and Natural England, among others, the company was restricted to drilling in the winter and not in the spring to mitigate “significant concerns in relation to both landscape and seascape impacts and potential effects on migratory fish”.
Despite the conditions Corallian has gone back to Opred seeking permission to extend the drilling into March.
The rig was approved after an application for a windfarm off the coast was turned down on grounds it would harm the views from designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and England’s only natural Unesco World Heritage Site, the Jurassic Coast.

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