Chincoteague resident Jim Dawson has been fishing the waters off the Eastern Shore for more than four decades, catching species including black sea bass and Atlantic lobster.
During his many hours out at sea, Dawson said he’s come to appreciate the tiniest creatures that dwell on and around the seafloor.
“The microscopic world is just phenomenal, that you would never know is there,” he said. “What lives in that water, we don't know anything about. And everything is vital.”
Dawson worries a new federal proposal to dig up huge portions of the seabed could threaten the ecosystem that supports his livelihood.
“Once you knock one thing off balance, it really impacts all of it,” he said.
The Trump administration announced in June that it is considering issuing an ocean lease to allow mineral mining within a 2,700-square-mile area flanking the Eastern Shore, stretching from 3 to 63 miles off the coast.
The move was prompted by an unsolicited request from a Florida company late last year.
Administration officials say the industry, which mines the seabed to extract valuable minerals, could reduce U.S. reliance on foreign suppliers.
But many community leaders and residents along the Virginia coast are strongly opposing the proposal, particularly on the Shore.
The counties of Accomack and Northampton sent the government formal notices against it.
“Accomack County's identity and economy are intrinsically tied to the Atlantic Ocean and the coastal waters surrounding Virginia's Eastern Shore,” the Board of Supervisors wrote in its public comment. “Any large-scale seabed mining or dredging activity has the potential to alter marine habitats, affect water quality, disrupt fisheries and negatively impact recreational opportunities that attract thousands of visitors to our region each year.”
The board noted concerns about potential impacts to “nationally significant defense and aerospace operations,” such as NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and areas used by the Navy for testing and training.
Donna Bozza leads the long-running organization Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore.
“We're a fragile peninsula, and it seems like there's always this force that wants to come in and do things that are potentially not good for us, our environment and for our people,” Bozza said.
She said the mining concept is “just another hit,” and residents will do their best to push back, as they have done on other projects.
“Home is always worth fighting for.”
The proposed activity is different from deep-sea mining, which involves going into very deep waters to extract hard nodules from the ocean bottom.
The Virginia proposal focuses on a different form, more akin to extreme dredging, in an area about 30 to 400 feet deep. The goal is to recover valuable minerals by sifting through huge amounts of sediment.
Heavy mineral sand deposits are formed over thousands or millions of years, as hard rock is eroded by wind and waves.
Federal surveys of sediment on the Southeast coast have found minerals such as titanium, zirconium, phosphates and ilmenite, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. These can be used in products, including fertilizer, paint, toothpaste and aircraft parts.
Officials also say there are rare earth elements in the region, which are needed for technology such as cellphones and electric vehicle chargers.
But it’s unclear what exactly the industry would find in the proposed lease area, because there have never been studies on it.
Jill Bieri, director of the Nature Conservancy's Virginia Coast Reserve, said mining threatens nearly 60 years of conservation work, such as restoring underwater seagrass meadows.
The reserve protects 14 undeveloped barrier and marsh islands on the Shore’s seaside.
“We are the last stand of coastal wilderness along the East Coast,” Bieri said.
She said the Nature Conservancy wants to better understand what potential seabed mining would look like and how it could disrupt the local flow of sediment. Right now, there’s little information available.
“Not only has there been millions and millions of dollars invested in protecting this place, but it is a huge driver in our culture here on the Eastern Shore, as well as a huge driver for coastal science around the world,” Bieri said. “It's just too important a place to embark on something that might have a negative impact.”
Dawson, the Chincoteague waterman, said he worries disturbing the sediment could unleash contaminants long buried in the mud, such as the chemical DDT, which wrought havoc on the ecosystem decades ago.
Environmental advocates in Virginia Beach have similar concerns.
The process “is not the same as routine dredging for navigation or beach nourishment,” the nonprofit Lynnhaven River Now said in a statement. “Science is clear that disturbing the seabed can have serious ecological consequences.”
The Virginia Beach City Council previously requested that the federal government extend its initial public comment period, which was set to end in July. The deadline has since been extended through next week.
But Councilmember Michael Berlucchi said he wants the body to take a stronger stance, following the lead of governments on the Shore.
The council is set to receive a briefing about the proposal next week. But “I don't think we need a comprehensive briefing to recognize that seabed mining will have a detrimental impact,” Berlucchi said.
He said Virginia’s coast is already used for many purposes, such as recreational and commercial fishing, tourism, undersea communication cables, offshore wind and military activities “that we know and don’t know about.”
The Beach council has previously opposed offshore oil and gas drilling and uranium mining because of similar concerns, Berlucchi said.
“We should approach this proposal with that same level of commitment to protecting our economy, our environment and ecology and our quality of life.”
Members of the public can comment on the potential federal lease through Aug. 22 on the federal regulations website.
