Though more than half of the 20 citizens who addressed a small contingent of traveling U.S. Minerals Management Services (MMS) officials during a public hearing at the Hilton Wilmington Riverside ballroom spoke against offshore drilling, the hearing, packaged as a scoping meeting, somewhat misled the public’s commentary. Instead, the hearing was intended for citizens to address their concerns about offshore drilling, not elicit support for or against.

It was one of many similar hearings staged in other coastal communities: Jacksonville, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; Charleston, S.C.; Norfolk, Va.; and Newark, NJ. The fact that the MMS team is based in the Gulf of Mexico region did not go unnoticed.

Wrightsville Beach Mayor David Cignotti, the tenth speaker, did so as a private citizen not representing the town.

"We all know in the oil business there are no guarantees, and we only have to look at the Gulf of Mexico as we speak," he said.

Noting the high risk of drilling to fisheries and tourism, Cignotti also touched on the same point raised by North Carolina Coastal Federation Coastal Advocate Mike Giles, who earlier questioned the mystery behind the current administration’s sudden reversal of position.

"It’s disappointing to me," Cignotti said, "to see some of our elected leaders being enticed to support this, right now, in the guise that they’ll be able to make money for their states to balance their budgets."

Cignotti implored concerned residents to contact local, state and federal representatives to make their voices heard.

City councilman Ronald Sparks also spoke as a private citizen and not as an elected official. Sparks apologized for arriving late, saying no one had notified council of the planned hearing. Sparks also did not get the memo about the meeting’s intent.

George Pickett, who spoke on behalf of Crystal South Surf Camp—a Wrightsville Beach vendor—using 2008 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the WHQR FM 91.3 Web site, calculated that an estimated 4 billion barrels harvested off the North Carolina coast would provide a 200-day supply of net imports and domestic consumption.

"The risk," Pickett said, "was not worth the reward."

Sparks did say he was mindful of the international climate and the need to identify another source of oil for national emergencies.

"I would like for us to think through that and make sure that we are only looking at this offshore resource as a last resort," Sparks said.

Environmentalists like Sean Ahlum, Surfrider International board member, seemed to grasp the concept behind the hearing, taking aim at the impact of underwater seismic testing, produced by air cannons, and the effects of those tests on marine life, especially whales.

"A single air gun array off the Northeast Coast caused endangered fin and humpback whales to stop singing, a behavior which is essential to their mating and foraging."

Carried over more than 100,000 nautical square miles, air gun noises—likened repeatedly to the sound of Naval warfare—mask whale calls, destroying the species’ ability to communicate and breed.

"The latest science from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and Cornell (University) shows Atlantic right whales, which calve off the coast of Georgia and Florida, are extremely vulnerable," he said.

Pickett said he had conversed with some marine mammals the day before.

"I would like to speak for them," he began, before launching into a comic impression of porpoise speak, which he translated as: "Please do not do this drilling. It will endanger our children and our food supply. The seismic survey knocks us senseless and destroys our hearing."

Obviously, the marine mammals did not understand the hearing’s purpose either.

Being a surfer, Pickett said, "I am a marine mammal. I’m opposed to it as well because it will endanger my species."

Citizens have until May 17 to address their concerns to Joe Christopher, ggeis@mms.gov. For more information, visit the MMS Web site at http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/offshhore/atlocs/gandg.html .

Christopher said the public hearing and review process was expected to last two years before permits to drill off the North Carolina coast would be issued.