Environmental Information for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Decisions in Alaska

ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION FOR OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND GAS DECISIONS IN ALASKA -- Copyright -- PREFACE -- Contents -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY -- ADEQUACY OF INFORMATION FOR OCS DECISIONS -- MAJOR INFORMATION GAPS -- ALTERNATIVES TO ADDITIONAL STUDIES -- Bowhead Whales -- Oil Spills -- Mitigating Long-Term Socioeconomic Effects -- 1 INTRODUCTION -- THIS STUDY AND REPORT -- Criteria for Adequacy -- Completeness -- Scientific Quality -- Application of the Standard -- Report Organization -- DESCRIPTION OF THE AREA -- In What Ways are High Latitudes Different? -- Rationale for Exploring for Oil in a Hostile Environment -- Exploration and Production in the Lease Areas -- MANAGEMENT OF OCS ACTIVITIES -- ESP Mandate -- Environmental Information and OCS Oil and Gas Leasing -- 2 DESCRIPTION OF OPERATIONS -- PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF ARCTIC INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY -- Environmental Concerns -- Oil Spills -- Routine Operations and Habitat Disturbance -- Waste Discharges -- Environmental Effects -- Regulatory Controls -- 3 GEOLOGICAL SETTING AND HYDROCARBON RESOURCE BASE -- INTRODUCTION -- GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE BEAUFORT AND CHUKCHI OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELVES -- PETROLEUM GEOLOGY -- Chukchi Sea -- Beaufort Sea -- ADEQUACY OF THE GEOLOGICAL DATA BASE AND ITS TREATMENT BY MMS -- RESOURCE ASSESSMENTS -- QUANTITATIVE ESTIMATES -- ADEQUACY AND RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES -- Data Base and Regional Studies -- Methods -- ENGINEERING GEOLOGY -- Permafrost and Thaw Subsidence -- Sedimentary Erosion and Transport -- Soil Mechanics of Silts -- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION -- 4 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT -- INTRODUCTION -- ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES -- ARCTIC OCEAN -- SOUTHEASTERN BERING SEA -- NORTHERN BERING SEA AND BERING STRAIT -- CHUKCHI SEA -- BEAUFORT SEA -- Orography -- Currents -- SEA ICE -- PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHIC STUDIES -- Models of Circulation and Oil Spill Trajectories.