associated with the location of major OCS related industries at a 

 specific site. One of the major conclusions of the study was that 

 the site specific environmental impacts of an all oil scenario would 

 be minor if recommended development stipulations were adopted. It 

 suggested, however, that transportation related activities, includ- 

 ing accidental spills of oil or toxic materials during transfer, could 

 adversely impact the adjacent marine and land areas if not properly 

 managed. 



5.2 The Social and Economic Effects of Petroleum Development 



In 1972, the MIT Georges Bank Petroleum Study focused on the "net 

 effect on real regional income." It utilized a computer model which 

 calculated several hypotheses of the cost of petroleum in New England, 

 including variations in the existence of import quotas, refinery lo- 

 cation, product mix, regional consumption, control of development, and 

 product distribution. It also examined likely market price changes, 

 and the present value of the capital cost of various development 

 scenarios. Changes in regional income because of spills, chronic dis- 

 charges, and loss of fishing grounds were also computed. The study 

 concluded that the most important variable in the cost of future oil 

 will be the price of imported oil. Therefore, petroleum development 

 on Georges Bank will have no effect on oil prices, and probably few 

 regional employment benefits. They further noted that an offshore 

 spill would not affect regional income greatly, while a nearshore spill 

 would have a significant impact. 



The CEQ report on OCS Oil and Gas predicted that a high find in 

 Georges Bank would yield .75 million bis. /day in 1985 and 1.75 million 



46 



