The production equipment and active wellsites were visited daily by 

 gaugers and maintenance workers. 



Installation and maintenance of lines. Numerous pipelines cross the 

 Sabine Refuge. There is a pipeline running east and west that passes close to 

 the southern boundary of the refuge. A small area east of State Highway 27 is 

 the site of safety check valves that automatically shut down the line in case 

 of leaks. The area was fenced and built up with shell and concrete. 



At least seven other pipelines ran through the refuge in a north-south 

 direction from the continental shelf. These pipelines have all been placed 

 close together in a pipeline corridor leading across the refuge. Within this 

 corridor are gas and oil lines including two 10-cm (4-inch), U-cm (4,5-inch), 

 two 15-cm (6-inch), 40-cm (16-inch), and two 75-cm (30-inch) pipelines. The 

 refuge presents a strip nearly 50 km (30 mi) wide when viewed from the gulf. 

 The corridor was created to allow access through the refuge without allowing 

 assorted pipelines to cut the refuge into many smaller sections. 



Because the USFWS has authority over pipelines entering from outside the 

 refuge, very thorough and stringent stipulations have been applied to pipelines 

 crossing the refuge. These have included methods of construction, placement 

 of pig-launching stations, backfilling, and reinforcement and plugging of 

 ditches where they cross canals or natural drainages. 



Since these pipelines cross very wet marsh soils, most are protected by 

 some sort of cathodic device. Appropriate transformer stations and sacrificial 

 anodes are placed parallel to the pipelines. 



Spills and cleanup. There have been instances of spills on the refuge. 

 According to the refuge manager, most have been minor, and the company has 

 been cooperative in cleaning up the area. 



Site shutdown and restoration. The majority of wells drilled on the 

 refuge have been abandoned. In the case of wells drilled on the marsh floor, 

 little evidence remains of their existence. Pits were generally covered over, 

 and the site was leveled. Some of the low bridges were removed. In the case 

 of the long artificial levee, some seeding was done to promote plant growth. 

 However, in this region natural revegetation is yery rapid, requiring only a 

 few growth seasons. 



The dredged locations had few restorative actions except to clear away 



debris and equipment left over from drilling. Most of the wellsites and 



dredged canals were not restored any further, although the access canals to 

 two wells in the Mineral Fee Field were plugged. 



134 



