Pat Mason: What is the feasibility of directional drilling in lieu of access canals in 

 wetlands? 



Michael Lyons: Directional drilling is not generally viable because of technical and legal 

 problems. Exploratory wells require straight vertical drilling for geological 

 interpretation and intercepting several stratographic objectives. There is also the 

 problenn of legal disputes regarding drilling from one land owner's property to 

 structures under that of another. A directionally drilled well is approximately 50 

 percent more expensive than a straight well and this frequently makes it 

 uneconomical to drill the project. 



Walter Sikora: I disagree with the doomsday approach expressed by Jim Gosselink. 

 Human activities are an important cause of land loss and good data are required in 

 order to deal with them. It is not acceptable to our society to stop drilling in 

 wetlands, thus we need to develop ways it can be accomplished without unacceptable 

 environmental losses. 



James Gosselink: I do not disagree. In response to the short-term outlook, we need 

 better information but can not afford to delay action because everyone cannot be 

 satisfied. Nature has had a long time to optimize biological-environmental 

 relationships. Any human changes which interfere with them will be detrimental. 

 Therefore, if we do not know the consequences of an action we should take a 

 conservative position and try to keep as much as possible to natural landscape 

 features and processes. I suggest, however, that we need to look more than we have 

 toward the long term, where many of these short-term issues will be insignificant. 



Len Bahr: I would argue that the cost differential between directional drilling and 

 conventional approaches involving wetlands dredging may not be that great if the 

 environmental costs were borne by the developer. It may be much cheaper to 

 society in the long run to directionally drill than to dredge new canals. 



Michael Halle: Why should the oil industry be exempt from the type of regulation 

 imposed on strip-mining of coal with regard to restoring the land to contours enjoyed 

 before mining? What does it cost to backfill canals? 



Michael Lyons: Backfilling wetland canals and restored strip-mined land differ in their 

 effectiveness. The dredged material backfilled in wetland canals will generally not 

 restore the original landscape. I do not know the specific cost of backfilling, but it 

 is less expensive than directionally drilling. 



Donald Boesch: Would Dr. Saucier offer some direction regarding wetland restoration 

 based on his experiences in habitat development from dredged material? 



Roger Saucier: It is generally unrealistic to use fine-grained material dredged with a 

 dragline and stored subaerially to refill a canal. The technology exists, however, and 

 is eminently practicable, if local geography permits, to hydraulically dredge 

 material from one canal to another canal or pond and create a wetland similar to 

 that displaced. 



Donald Moore: Even though leveling of spoil banks may not be able to totally restore 

 wetlands displaced by a canal, it can restore the area where the spoil was placed and 

 return it to a coastal wetland elevation. 



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