If the federal government approves oil and gas drilling offshore, a group of New Jersey elected officials, environmentalists and residents worry that beaches like Asbury Park's would be in jeopardy.

They envision a disaster like the one in Gulf Coast states after the Deepwater Horizon explosion of 2010, when millions of barrels of oil coated animals and slicked beaches for hundreds of miles. In the months afterward, crews cleaned oil and tar from beaches, ocean-dwelling animals died in unusual numbers, and  that region's fishing and tourism industry were temporarily crippled.

Asbury Park Mayor John Moor said he worries a similar disaster could happen at the Jersey Shore...

...Moor joined Sens. Cory Booker and  Robert Menendez and Rep. Frank Pallone, all D-N.J., as well as representatives from dozens of organizations that also opposed the prospect of offshore drilling...

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