Stellwagen Bank Final EIS and Management Plan 



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gas lease sale activities have been conducted within 

 the area of the proposed Sanctuary. No exploratory 

 wells have been drilled anywhere on the Atlantic 

 OCS since 1984. 



Initial industry interest in the overall Atlantic 

 OCS region focused on an ancient buried reef 

 trend, believed to extend intermittently from 

 Massachusetts to Florida. However, industry 

 interest in the Atlantic OCS has decreased since 

 1984 for two reasons: 1) leasing moratoria and 

 numerous OCS subarea deferrals; and 2) failure to 

 locate commercially viable quantities of oil or 

 natural gas. (U.S. DOI, MMS, 1989). 



The current 5- Year Leasing Program Mid-1987 

 to Mid- 1992 proposes two lease sales for the North 

 Atlantic Region: Sale #96 (scheduled for February 

 1989), and Sale #134, (scheduled for February 

 1992). Both Sales are currently cancelled due to a 

 Presidential Order, signed on June 26, 1990. Under 

 that Order, no OCS leasing and development 

 activity may occur in the Georges Bank area of the 

 North Atlantic Planning Area until after the year 

 2000. Stellwagen Bank is included within the area 

 covered by this Order. Therefore, no leases will be 

 offered within the vicinity of the proposed Sanctuary 

 in the foreseeable future. However, based upon the 

 September 25, 1990 recommendation of the 

 Director of MMS, the North Atlantic Planning Area 

 would be considered for MMS geologic and 

 environmental studies during the currently proposed 

 mid- 1992 to mid-1997 five-year oil and gas leasing 

 program. 



Marine transportation issues related to the 

 transport of oil and gas resources have also been 

 examined for the North Atlantic Planning Area. 

 The Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management 

 Office has conducted a preliminary pipeline siting 

 study for natural gas originating from the OCS. 

 The study focused on the types of data necessary for 

 identification of natural gas pipeline corridors, 

 including physical, geological, and biological features 

 and existing land-use patterns. Transportation 

 scenarios are developed based on the proximity of 

 potential hydrocarbon discoveries to existing 

 refineries or processing facilities. Prehminary 

 identification also was made of potential pipeline 

 corridors. However, since no commercially 



producible quantities of oil and gas have been 

 discovered, no pipeline or tanker routes have been 

 designated. 



7. Sand and Gravel Mining 



Within the past decade, the Boston metropolitan 

 area has experienced significant and rapid economic 

 growth, which has in turn encouraged substantial 

 industrial, commercial, and residential development. 

 Pressures on both the housing industry and 

 transportation systems to meet the demands of this 

 growth have resulted in increased consumption of 

 and demand for sand and gravel resources, for use 

 as aggregate in construction activities. 



Recently, three large-scale public works projects 

 have been initiated in this area: the construction of 

 a new secondary wastewater treatment facility by 

 the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority 

 (MWRA); reconstruction of the Central Artery, the 

 major highway through Boston, by the 

 Massachusetts Department of Public Works 

 (MDPW); and construction of the Third Harbor 

 Tunnel, also being undertaken by MDPW. These 

 projects will create additional demand for 

 construction aggregate. 



Stubblefield and Duane (1988) identify two 

 principal areas in Massachusetts Bay and 

 surrounding waters where sand and mixed aggregate 

 are known to occur in significant quantities. The 

 first is in the inshore waters off Boston Harbor 

 between Hull and Plymouth. Fitzgerald, si a]. 

 (1990) in characterizing these deposits, provide a 

 very speculative estimate of the total volume of 

 material in three potential deposits within this area 

 as approximately 4.8 million cubic yards (3.7 million 

 cubic meters). The second area is Stellwagen Bank. 

 Setlow (1973) estimated that the volume of material 

 (predominantly sand) on or adjacent to the Bank 

 was 114.7 million cubic yards (87.7 million cubic 

 meters). Sands account for over 90% of the Bank 

 feature's composition (BOM 1987). 



More recently, Stellwagen Bank has been 

 identified by the Minerals Management Service 

 (MMS) as a potentially favorable area for possible 

 mining activities, primarily for sand deposits (MMS, 

 1987). Environmental considerations were not. 



