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RESOLUTION NO. 2015- 1 Zti A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, FLORIDA OPPOSING SEISMIC AIRGUN TESTING IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN WHEREAS, Indian River County is located on the Atlantic Coast of Florida and endeavors to be a good steward of the coastal environment, its natural resources, and its animals; and WHEREAS, residents have an expectation of a quality of life tied to that environment and demonstrated their concern for our ocean environment in Indian River County; and WHEREAS, seismic airgun testing is being proposed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) as a testing method for the exploration of oil and natural gas off the mid- Atlantic coast which includes Indian River County; and WHEREAS, seismic airguns fire intense blasts of compressed air, almost as loud as explosives, every 1-12 seconds twenty-four hours a day for days to weeks on end, these loud airgun blasts can be heard for many hundreds of miles and could injure or possibly kill thousands of marine mammals and fish, including the critically endangered Northern Atlantic right whale, and endangered and threated sea turtles, and WHEREAS, Southern Brevard and Northern Indian River Counties are one of the most dense nesting areas in the United States for threatened loggerhead and endangered green sea turtles; and WHEREAS, Indian River County is part of the Indian River Lagoon system which is a diverse estuary, home to more than 3,000 species of plants and animals; and WHEREAS, the full impacts of seismic testing and offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean are not yet fully understood by scientists, the oil and gas industry, BOEM, or the Federal Government, and more passive lower -impact alternative technologies may be available for exploration in the near future. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of County Commissioners of Indian River County, Florida opposes seismic airgun testing and urges BOEM to consider more environmentally passive alternatives for oil and gas exploration. THE FOREGOING RESOLUTION was offered by Commissioner O' Rryan and seconded by Commissioner Fl P�,he- , and, being put to a vote was as follows: Chairman, Bob Solari NAY Vice Chairman, Joseph E Flescher AYR Commissioner Wesley S. Davis NAY Commissioner Tim Zorc AYE Commissioner Peter D. O'Bryan AYE The Chairman thereupon declared the resolution duly passed and adopted this Rt -h day of December 2015.