6.0 SOCIO ECONOMIC IMPACTS - PAST AND FUTURE 



6.1 DEVELOPMENT EFFECTS 



In general, it can be assumed that future impacts of OCS oil and gas 

 activity will be greater on the environment, on other industries, and on 

 communities in areas where no previous OCS oil and gas leasing has taken 

 place, when compared with areas where such activity has already been 

 initiated. This follows since new pipelines and storage facilities 

 must be built, working relationships must be developed between previous- 

 ly existing industries, (i.e., fishing) and the new oil and gas industry, 

 and new labor forces with associated payrolls will be introduced to areas 

 with less economic activity. Thus, the socio economic impacts, both 

 positive and negative, will likely be greater on the Mid Atlantic - 

 South Atlantic coast than for similar lease sales for offshore Louisiana 

 or California where offshore and nearby onshore production has been in 

 existence for many years (26, Vol. 4, p. 1). 



The possible favorable socio economic impacts of OCS development 



are yery dependent on the environmental impacts of such activity. Many 



of the direct benefits of OCS development can be readily nullified if 



valuable recreation and commercial /sport fishing industries are damaged 



by an increased number of oil spills, loss of wetlands, and greater 



sources of air, water, noise and visual pollution. 



By carefully planning and selecting of locations for support activities 



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