Severe storms sometimes cause oil spills. In 1964, about 12,000 barrels of 

 oil were spilled from storage tanks in Louisiana during Hurricane Hilda. 

 Accidental oil spills from tankers and barges and oil discharged under normal 

 operating conditions are the major oil spill sources. A large spill can kill 

 birds and marine organisms, weaken key links in the food chain necessary to 

 support sport fisheries, and modify coastline habitats. In addition to bio- 

 logical impacts, oil spills can diminish aesthetic and socioeconomic values, 

 and foul fishing boats and gear. 



Potentially, any one of four levels of OCS oil and gas activity could 

 threaten Northwest Florida (Hodecker 1981). Exploratory drilling likely would 

 not cause measurable onshore impacts. A low-find scenario near the gulf coast 

 of western Florida could require a small permanent supply base and repair and 

 maintenance yards, and other ancillary services. Pipelines would be needed to 

 carry the crude oil to marine terminals where the crude would be stored. Gas 

 processing and treatment plants would be located at each landfall site. A 

 medium-find scenario would require two permanent bases in Northwest Florida, 

 two pipelines, two marine terminal facilities, and two gas processing plants 

 if oil fields are located offshore. 



For high- find oil and gas operations, at least two and possibly three 

 bases would locate in Northwest Florida. Ancillary facilities, two pipelines, 

 marine terminals, and gas processing plants would locate at each landfall 

 site. A refinery may be needed in Northwest Florida if discoveries of oil and 

 gas are high (Hodecker 1981). 



Based on data provided by the New England River Basins Commission (1976), 

 Dzurik in his synthesis paper on "Minerals" provided tables of the general 

 impacts from siting various OCS onshore facilities. These impacts, in terms 

 of employment and land area needed for a high-find scenario, are given in 

 Table 8. Over 3,000 acres of coastal land and 3,000 linear ft of waterfront 

 would be needed for OCS onshore facilities. Some of this loss would be recre- 

 ational land. Using the demand factors for various types of recreation, esti- 

 mates of the number of recreation days required by the additional employment 

 related to OCS activities can be made (Table 9). Over 11,000 days of various 

 recreation activities would be demanded by those employed by OCS related 

 industry. 



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