pipeline breaks, platform fires, storage tank failures and casing leaks. 

 The Bureau of Land Management has estimated that 43,873 barrels of oil 

 will be spilled annually in the Gulf. Many state officials and environ- 

 mentalists fear the figure will be higher. In addition, they fear the 

 occurrence of massive oil spills resulting from the regions' stormy 

 weather and active seismic conditions. The counter clockwise direction 

 of the Alaska Current makes it very likely (particularly in the summer) 

 that much of this oil would reach the shoreline. Wildlife in the area 

 particularly vulnerable to acute and chronic oil spills include the 

 peregrine falcon, trumpeter swan, dunlin, Aleutian tern, Glacier (black) 

 bear, brown bear, Dusky Canadian goose, rock ptarmigan, osprey, sea otter, 

 fur seal, sea lion, and bald eagle. Oil spills would also cause air 

 pollution and inhibit recreational activities. 



In addition to these OCS impacts, two other major projects in the 

 Northern Gulf may significantly affect the region. They are a liquefied 

 natural gas (LNG) plant and marine terminal proposed by the El Paso 

 Alaska Company at Gravina Point in Prince William Sound and the terminus 

 of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline at Valdez. The proposed LNG plant 

 and auxiliary facilities would require 1,200 acres of land and take 

 7-years to build. Construction impacts from this facility would be 



substantial; for example, by 1979 Cordova's population is projected to 

 increase by over 8,000 new residents as a result of activity from both 

 the northern Gulf lease sale and the LNG terminal. 1 * 3 



Once the Alaska Pipeline is completed, from 1.2 to 2.0 million barrels 

 per day (bpd) of crude oil will be shipped by tankers from Valdez to the 

 West Coast. Twenty tankers with deadweight tonnage of 1,390,000 tons 



27 



