A coalition of conservation groups led by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has inked a settlement agreement with the Interior Department and the oil and natural gas industry that would restrict seismic testing in certain parts of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) over the next two and a half years to protect whales and dolphins from high-intensity airguns that are are used to find oil and gas deep underneath the ocean floor.

The settlement, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Thursday, stays for 30 months a 2010 lawsuit brought by the four conservation groups that claimed Interior failed to satisfy the basic requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act in permitting seismic exploration in the GOM, and failed to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the impact of seismic activity on the GOM mammal wildlife, particularly whales and dolphins. Besides NRDC, coalition members include Biological Diversity, Gulf Restoration Network, and Sierra Club.

The agreement will take effect when all the parties sign the document, and the court enters an order approving the settlement.

The airgun restrictions will apply to four areas in the GOM: the De Soto Canyon in the Northeast Gulf; Mississippi Canyon in North Central Gulf; an area west of the Florida Keys and Tortugas; and coastal waters shoreward of the 20-meter isobath (waters within 20-meters deep or shallower). De Soto Canyon is considered important for sperm whales and critical to Bryde’s whales, the Gulf’s only resident population of large baleen whales, also known as the “great whales,” which prefer tropical waters.

The prohibition on airgun exploration in coastal waters also will extend to the main calving season for bottlenose dolphins, according to the settlement.

The American Petroleum Institute, International Association of Geophysical Contractors, Independent Petroleum Association of America, U.S. Oil and Gas Association and Chevron USA Inc. joined Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as intervenors-defendants in the case.

At issue in the case is the industry’s use of airguns in seismic activity. “The industry typically uses arrays of high-powered airguns that release intense blasts of compressed air into the water every 10-12 seconds, for weeks or months at a time. The noise they produce is almost as intense as dynamite, which airguns replaced in the mid-1950s,” the coalition said.

Surprisingly, the American Petroleum Institute (API), which represents major oil and gas producers, applauded the agreement. “We are pleased that the parties to this litigation were able to work together to resolve this matter,” said Erik Milito, API director of upstream and industry operations. “Industry looks forward to working with government regulators to ensure that seismic operations in the Gulf of Mexico continue to be conducted in an operationally effective and environmentally responsible manner.”

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