For Immediate Release: February 4, 1999
Contact: Rick Spencer, Programs Director, 336-685-7012

Chevron Calls Off Offshore Oil Drilling!;
NC Outer Banks Spared for Now

Greensboro, NC— Environmental activists across North Carolina are celebrating as Chevron announced today that it will not submit a proposal to drill off the coast of Cape Hatteras for at least a year. Chevron was expected to submit their proposal by late 1998, but residents of the Outer Banks and people across the entire country voiced stong opposition to the drilling. The company lists low oil prices and public pressure as reasons for backing off.

Chevron has planned on drilling for oil off North Carolina’s Outer Banks for years, but made their immediate plans known in early 1998. They planned to drill at an area referred to as “The Point.” The Point is believed to be the most biodiverse aquatic ecosystem on the North American Atlantic coast, and nearly two dozen endangered species can be found there, including many whale and sea turtle species and the Bermuda petrel, of which there are only 50 breeding pairs in the world. Virtually every job on the Outer Banks relies on a healthy environment, from the tourist industry to commercial fishing.

“An accident the size of the Exxon Valdez at this site would have repercussions felt all the way to New England. This is a major victory for the people and wildlife all over the east coast,” says EarthCulture’s Rick Spencer. “We have been spared for now, but we will use everything in our power from lawsuits to physically blocking the drilling to guarantee Chevron never drills off North Carolina’s coast.”

EarthCulture gained international media coverage in November, 1998 with a 200 mile bike ride from the Outer Banks to the state capitol to protest Chevron’s proposal and promote earth-friendly transportation.

EarthCulture opposes all new oil exploration because of the environmental degradation and human rights abuses that come with it all over the world. Chevron has been the target of recent international protest for its continual human rights violations in Nigeria, where several people were executed in 1995 for their opposition to Shell and Chevron’s operations.