There is daily activity on the refuge concerned with oil and gas. The 

 company maintains the well sites and equipment, and there are frequent visual 

 checks of the sites and equipment in addition to the computer monitoring. 



Installation of lines. All flowlines, other than temporary ones associ- 

 ated with drilling, are buried on the refuge. Brine-disposal lines are also 

 buried. There are at least three major natural gas pipelines that cross the 

 Aransas Refuge, and lines for oil transport lead off the refuge. Several 

 flowlines lead onshore from wells in the bay, and there is a pending applica- 

 tion for an additional pipeline leading onshore from Mesquite Bay. 



Permits have been issued by the USFWS for pipeline construction. The 

 stipulations from the permits have typically ''2alt with maintaining drainage, 

 clearing and maintaining the right-of-way, ar.a restoring the original contours 

 of the land. 



The pipeline companies maintain the rights-of-way at least yearly by 

 mowing. They also fly a light plane along the pipeline route approximately 

 once a week to check for leaks and hazards. 



Spills and cleanup. There have been some spills on the Aransas Refuge in 

 the last few years. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway parallels the refuge for 

 approximately 20 km (12.4 mi). Traffic along the waterway is heavy and there 

 have been a few instances of leaks or spills from barges transporting petroleum 

 products. Personnel have been mobilized from the refuge, U.S. Coast Guard, 

 the Texas Department of Water Resources, and the Corpus Christi Area Oil Spill 

 Control Association to clean spills. The refuge has not had specialized 

 equipment to deal with these accidents, and often accessibility to the site of 

 the spills has made cleanup difficult. 



Spills have also taken place on the refuge proper. In one instance in 

 1969, a valve jammed on a separator, spewing oil over an area of nearly 16 ha 

 (40 acres). Included within this area was a pond occasionally used by water- 

 fowl. The area was cleaned by draining the pond into a ditch and skimming off 

 the oil by vacuum truck. Fire lanes were cut around the site and oil-soaked 

 vegetation was burned. 



Minor leaks and spills are often associated with pumping and production 

 equipment. The care with which companies maintain sites and equipment varies 

 over the entire spectrum. It is safe to say, however, that the sites on the 

 Aransas Refuge are among the cleanest and best cared for in the industry. 



Site shutdown and restoration. After a well was drilled and contractors 

 removed the equipment. Continental took pains to restore the site. Mud pits 

 were leveled and mud and tailings were buried. If the well has been capped to 

 await production or is put into production, the area is maintained by occasional 



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