Take Action to Stop Seabed Mining and Save Endangered Fish and Whales

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is proposing to lease more than 2,500 square miles off the coast of Virginia for industrial-scale heavy mineral sand mining. "Strip mining" of our ocean’s seabed would destroy seafloor habitats and harm marine wildlife—such as the endangered Atlantic sturgeon and North Atlantic right whales that depend on these waters—through dredging, toxic sediment plumes, and industrial noise and light pollution.

Please lend your voice for marine wildlife along our Atlantic coast by saying NO to seabed mining.

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RE: Request for Information and Interest: Commercial Leasing for Outer Continental Shelf Minerals Offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia (Docket No. BOEM-2026-0100)

Dear Mr. Wikel,

I oppose and ask you to rescind the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s proposal to lease more than 2,500 square miles of the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Virginia for minerals mining of the seabed.

"Strip mining" of our ocean’s seabed would destroy seafloor habitats and harm marine wildlife I care about—including the endangered Atlantic sturgeon and North Atlantic right whales that depend on these waters—through dredging, toxic sediment plumes, and industrial noise and light pollution.

Seabed mining decimates seafloor habitat, including lethal impacts to young fish, eggs, and larvae found near the seabed that are unable to move out of the way of the dredging area. It could even lead to local extinctions. Again, I ask you to rescind the proposal to lease more than 2,500 square miles of the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Virginia for minerals mining of the seabed. Thank you.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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