USA: Bill protecting marine waters from seabed mining passed in Washington
Published by MAC on 2021-05-05Source: The Daily World, Pewtrusts, Surfrider.org
A proactive ocean protection legislation.
A two-page bill, introduced in January states that the state Department of Natural Resources “may not issue permits and leases on aquatic lands along the Washington coast from Cape Flattery south to Washington’s southern border” — including Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay — “for purposes of exploration, development, or seabed mining of hard materials.”
“Seabed mining is bad for sea life, bad for our environmental health, and bad for our future,” said Sen. Kevin Van De Wege after the bill passed the House. “This legislative movement will ensure our marine ecosystems, our fisheries and our coastal communities don’t turn into offshore strip mines.”
See SENATE BILL 5145 PDF file: http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5145.PL.pdf#page=1
See also:
2021-03-27 Drawing the Pacific Blue Line: Call for a global ban on deep sea mining
Our goal is to prohibit seabed mining in Washington's waters, stopping a destructive practice before it starts.
https://www.surfrider.org/campaigns/say-no-to-seabed-mining-in-washington
May 3, 2021
Surfrider and our partners are celebrating the passage of a law to permanently protect Washington’s marine environment from the destructive practice of seabed mining. Following the Washington Legislature’s passage of a bill to prohibit seabed mining in Washington state waters with bipartisan support, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5145 into law on May 3rd, making Washington state the second in the country to take this ocean protection action.
The Washington House of Representatives recently passed Senate Bill 5145 banning seabed mining by a vote of 96-2, and the Senate had unanimously passed the bill by a vote of 49-0. The legislation was originally introduced by Senators Kevin Van De Wege (D-Sequim) and Christine Rolfes (D-Bainbridge Island) on January 12 during Washington’s 2021 Legislative session.
“Seabed mining is bad for sea life, bad for our environmental health, and bad for our future,” said Washington state Senator, Kevin Van De Wege. “This legislative movement will ensure our marine ecosystems, our fisheries and our coastal communities don’t turn into offshore strip-mines.”
While many perceive this issue to be an emerging threat, there has been interest since at least the late 1800s in mining black sands along the Washington coast from Cape Flattery to the Columbia River, as the area contains iron, titanium, and other hard minerals. Oregon passed a precautionary law banning seabed mining in its state waters in 1991. SB-5145 provides a similar proactive approach to protecting Washington’s coast from future mining efforts.
“Democrats and Republicans came together to support this proactive ocean protection legislation before the threat of destructive seabed mining arrives in our coastal waters,” said Gus Gates, Washington Policy Manager with the Surfrider Foundation. “In passing this legislation, our leaders are demonstrating they clearly value our beautiful coastline, our outdoor recreation and marine resource-based economy, and the culture and economic well-being of our coastal communities.”
Mining the nearshore seafloor along the U.S. West Coast could cause significant damage to commercial and recreational fisheries, marine wildlife, and the communities and tribal nations that depend on them, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. Also at risk are the breathtaking beaches, tide pools, and rocky shorelines that help support a multimillion-dollar tourism industry. By preventing this harmful activity before it starts, the West Coast can be a model for other regions that are hoping to avoid the possible consequences of seabed mining.
Industrial-scale prospecting for gold, platinum, titanium, phosphorus, and other minerals along the ocean floor is increasing worldwide. Seabed mineral extraction, which ranges from dredging to far more destructive techniques, including the removal of the top 12 inches of seafloor off of seamounts, could additionally affect kelp forests and other marine habitats that nurture commercially and recreationally important fish.
In addition to acute damage to the seafloor, mining creates toxic sediment plumes, noise, light, and thermal pollution, and other unpredictable impacts to the mid-water ecosystem that disrupt marine communities. These jeopardize the health of other wildlife in the marine environment, such as salmon, steelhead, tuna, forage fish, and marine mammals, including the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales.
A diverse range of coastal business interests from recreation, to commercial and recreational fishing, to hospitality and shellfish growers, all came together to support this common sense legislation and help push it across the finish line.
“For those of us who work on our oceans and coastal estuaries, the legislative prohibition on seafloor mining is welcome and much appreciated,” says Larry Thevik, President of the Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association. “The preservation and protection of our abundant marine resources is fundamental to the preservation and protection of our coastal fishing, recreation, and tourist economies and communities. SB 5145 continues long-standing legislative action and reaffirms legislative efforts to promote a healthy marine environment off of our coastal shores. Our ocean space is limited and the marine resources we are charged to steward and depend on are better served with this legislation and without the environmental disturbance seafloor mining would bring to our ocean economy and habitat.”
Seabed mining is on the rise in other parts of the world and could soon put commercial and recreational fisheries, marine wildlife, and coastal communities and cultures at risk. Other states around the US can take similar approaches as they did in Washington to prevent this harmful practice before it threatens the ocean ecosystem and coastal communities. Learn more about this emerging issue via the Surfrider Coastal Blog and Beachapedia page and join Surfrider today!
May 3, 2021
The marine waters off the coast of Washington face an overwhelming number of threats, including industrialization, pollution, warming waters, ocean acidification, and more. Now it appears that the ecosystem and wildlife there will get a reprieve from at least one potential hazard: Governor Jay Inslee (D) signed bipartisan legislation today prohibiting seabed mining for hard minerals, including precious metals, metal-rich sands, and gemstones, within 3 miles of Washington shores.
This farsighted measure, introduced Jan. 12 by Democratic state Senators Kevin Van De Wege and Christine Rolfes, protects commercial and recreational fisheries, marine wildlife, and the communities and Tribal Nations that depend on them from the damage such mineral extraction would inflict. The Pew Charitable Trusts thanks the Washington Legislature and Gov. Inslee for their precautionary approach to the issue.
Seabed mining could harm sensitive habitats, for example from dredges destroying corals and sponges or sediment plumes from mining machines injuring salmon and other species. This could in turn hurt communities that depend on fishing, tourism, and cultural resources.
This is not a theoretical problem. The hard minerals found in Washington’s nearshore waters have attracted interest from mining companies for decades. The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has issued exploration and mining leases for iron- and titanium-rich black sands in several areas at the mouth of the Columbia River, including one in the 1960s for a project that spurred construction of a concentrating plant. DNR issued a similar seabed mining lease in the 1980s for an operation off the Long Beach Peninsula that also failed to get off the ground.
Washington’s coastal communities can’t count on such near misses to protect their wildlife and livelihoods indefinitely. Interest in digging up the nearshore seafloor is likely to increase as land-based sources of hard minerals become more difficult to find and mine. Washington’s proactive closure of state waters to this destructive practice spares the state the unintended consequences of a future marine gold—or titanium—rush.
There’s more work to be done to extend these protections along the West Coast. Although Oregon banned seabed mining for hard minerals in state marine waters in 1991, California has yet to implement a ban. It should join this coastal coalition in protecting more of our country’s irreplaceable nearshore marine resources for the prosperity and enjoyment of future generations.
Dan Hammock
https://www.thedailyworld.com/
Apr 12, 2021
One of 24th District Sen. Kevin Van De Wege’s, D-Sequim, legislative session priorities — a bill to ban seabed mining in state marine waters — passed the House of Representatives easily Sunday after winning unanimous Senate approval in early March.
At the January Greater Grays Harbor legislative sendoff in Aberdeen, Van De Wege had called the legislation one of his priorities for the 2021 session, saying nobody was currently engaged in seabed mining in the state, but he wanted to ban it “before it starts.”
“Seabed mining is bad for sea life, bad for our environmental health, and bad for our future,” said Van De Wege after the bill passed the House. “This legislative movement will ensure our marine ecosystems, our fisheries and our coastal communities don’t turn into offshore strip mines.”
A statement from the Surfrider Foundation, Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association and Twin Harbors Waterkeeper on Sunday said there has been interest in mining black sands containing iron, titanium and other hard minerals from Cape Flattery to the Columbia River since at least the late 1800s. Oregon passed a precautionary law banning seabed mining in its state waters in 1991.
“For those of us who work on our oceans and coastal estuaries, the legislative prohibition on seafloor mining is welcome and much appreciated,” said Larry Thevick, who lives in Ocean Shores and serves as president of the Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association. “The preservation and protection of our abundant marine resources is fundamental to the preservation and protection of our coastal fishing, recreation, and tourist economies and communities.”
“Democrats and Republicans came together to support this proactive ocean protection legislation before the threat of destructive seabed mining arrives in our coastal waters,” said Gus Gates, Washington Policy Manager with the Surfrider Foundation. “In passing this legislation, our leaders clearly value our beautiful coastline, our outdoor recreation and marine resource based economy, and the culture and economic well-being of our coastal communities.”
“Industrial-scale prospecting for gold, platinum, titanium, phosphorus and other minerals along the ocean floor is increasing worldwide,” according to Sunday’s joint statement. “Seabed mineral extraction, which ranges from dredging to far more destructive techniques, including the removal of the top 12 inches of seafloor off of seamounts, could additionally affect kelp forests and other marine habitats that nurture commercially and recreationally important fish.”
The statement continued, “By preventing this harmful activity before it starts, the West Coast can be a model for other regions that are hoping to avoid the possible consequences of seabed mining.”
“Seabed mining, had it been allowed, would have had the potential to irreversibly alter and destroy critical ocean habitats and the species that depend on them,” said Lee First with Twin Harbors Waterkeeper. “Today Twin Harbors Waterkeeper celebrates a big win for the ocean and the species and surrounding communities that depend on them.”
The bill now goes to Gov. Jay Inslee’s desk for final approval.