During the first phase, onshore support facilities are usually already 

 adequate or are not needed, and there is little impact. It is during the 

 exploratory drilling phase that dock space and harbor depth become issues. 

 The important impacts on a community during this second phase are economic, 

 e.g., suppliers of drilling-related equipment will locate in the area and 

 subsidiary businesses will spring up. OCS oil and gas companies sometimes 

 choose to locate onshore facilities in smaller communities (such as Port St. 

 Joe) because of excessive land values and other negative factors character- 

 istic of urban areas (Calder 1978). 



The development of production rigs and pipelines (phase 3) on a large 

 scale in the Northwest Florida area would create new economic and social 

 stresses. This extraordinary labor intensive period would place housing in 

 great demand. Sudden population growth, with its associated industries, 

 causes excessive stress on land use, transportation, and infrastructure and 

 services (e.g., schools and hospitals). In addition, environmental damage 

 could be serious (Calder 1978). 



Once the development phase is completed and the production phase begins, 

 construction workers usually begin to leave the area. From a local government 

 perspective, this is a period of post-construction readjustment. This final 

 phase is not as labor intensive as the development phase; therefore, during 

 the development phase, infrastructure and public service expenditures must not 

 be over-committed because they may eventually have to be supported by a re- 

 duced population (Calder 1978). To mitigate this, a community could utilize 

 planning procedures to minimize the negative socioeconomic-environmental 

 impacts in much the same manner as the following procedures that were sug- 

 gested by Myhra (1980) for nuclear power plant construction site communities: 



Recognize that socioeconomic problems may occur and be willing 

 to do whatever it takes to hold them to a minimum. Create an 

 impact mitigation task force, group or team. Develop an impact 

 management plan. Inventory existing socioeconomic conditions at 

 the site area. Determine the estimated influx of new workers 

 and their dependents. Forecast the likely socioeconomic changes 

 on the community. Translate those adverse impacts into net 

 fiscal deficits. Provide appropriate funding and finance to 

 mitigate the impacts. Monitor how well the impact management 

 program is working out. Redirect the allocation of impact 

 assistance where needed the most. Continue readjustment activ- 

 ities as long as necessary after construction is complete. 



Implementing a procedure such as the one described above would enable a 

 community to strengthen what is considered "one of the weakest links in the 

 energy facility construction chain" (Calder 1978). This would allow a com- 

 munity to mitigate many of the negative characteristics of "boom-town" devel- 

 opment and take full advantage of the positive features that such growth can 

 bring. 



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