Pallone Joins Interior Secretary Haaland for Tour of Oil Spill Response Facility
Leonardo, NJ – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today joined Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland for a tour of Ohmsett – the National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility. The facility provides independent and objective performance testing of full-scale oil spill response equipment and helps improve technologies through research and development. The facility is managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
The facility is fully equipped with wave generator flaps and other simulation features that help support Ohmsett’s recent expansion into renewable energy development. It provides scientists and industry with a research and testing venue for wave energy conversion devices, which holds immense potential for creating clean, renewable energy in New Jersey. The facility’s 2.6-million-gallon tank was emptied, refurbished, and returned to service in May 2022 after an eight-month renovation.
“We know how much destruction oil spills unleash in our oceans. Ohmsett helps improve the response to oil spills by developing new technology and more effective procedures, so that we can mitigate the grave threat these spills have on our marine habitats and wildlife,” said Pallone. “I’m a longtime advocate of permanently banning offshore oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic Ocean, and I’ll continue to fight to protect New Jersey’s coastal communities from oil spills. I’m grateful to Secretary Haaland for visiting this important facility in New Jersey and to the scientists whose work helps advance technology to clean up dangerous oil spills.”
“I was thrilled to visit Ohmsett today with Congressman Pallone to see first-hand how new technologies and trainings are helping the United States and international community better plan for and respond to oil spills and advance new renewable energy science. As we move rapidly towards a robust and sustainable clean energy future with greater environmental stewardship of our lands and waters, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is committed to the continued development of world-class advancements that will keep people, wildlife, and the health of our ocean safe,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
Pallone re-introduced the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act last month that would ban offshore oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. The bipartisan COAST Anti-Drilling Act permanently prohibits the U.S. Department of Interior from issuing leases for the exploration, development, or production of oil and gas in the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida Planning Areas of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.