reserves and production levels have been fully determined. If sufficient re- 

 sources are discovered crude oil will probably be transported by buried pipe- 

 line connecting offshore production areas with onshore storage/distribution 

 systems; otherwise tankers and terminals will be used. The need for extensive 

 new distribution and processing facilities will depend on the quantity of crude 

 and the demand. New facilities will probably not be required since offshore 

 United States oil is intended to replace imported Middle East crude, and since 

 the expected rate of growth of petroleum products demand for the United States 

 East Coast could be handled by expansion of existing refineries (9, p. 44). 



Depending on where pipelines come ashore, some additional connections 

 to existing refineries in Delaware Bay, Chesapeake Bay, or northern New 

 Jersey will be required. Natural gas pipelines exist in some locales which 

 could be used to transfer gas from the coastal zone processing sites to in- 

 land centers; among these locations are: Northern New Jersey-Sandy Hook area, 

 Southern New Jersey-Atlantic City and Cape May, Northern Delaware and the 

 Norfolk-Virginia area. Crude oil pipelines do not extend to or near the Mid 

 Atlantic coastal zone. Tht.s, if oil is brought ashore by pipeline, new 

 rights-of-way and pipelines will be necessary from landfalls to regional crude 

 pipelines (12, p. 15). 

 2.6 ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS 



Activities which have taken place so far in regard to OCS exploration 

 in the Mid Atlantic area have produced few if any environmental problems 

 such as minor oil spills, dredge spoil disposal, onshore construction of 

 support facilities, or the laying of pipelines through estuarine marshes. 



Of particular concern to the Mid Atlantic region are the remaining pro- 

 ductive wetlands of New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. These 



