is responsible to the owner of the oil storage terminal who is usually 

 one of a group of oil companies. Construction of a large oil storage 

 terminal will require approximately two years. 



Operation 



Operation of an oil storage facility is highly automated, so that 

 only a small work force is required. There is a constant inflow of oil 

 from pipelines and outflow of oil to refineries, with intermittent but 

 very rapid flow between storage facilities and tankers. 



After oil is piped ashore, it is temporarily stored in tank farms 

 prior to shipment for processing. By constrast, natural gas is piped 

 directly from the offshore site to processing plants. The output from 

 offshore production may involve both oil and gas which can be piped to 

 shore in the same line. In that event, the oil and gas will be separated. 

 The oil will go to a tank farm and the gas to the processing plant. 



Community Effects 



Oil storage terminals, or tank farms, are generally located in 

 coastal areas to accommodate supplies from offshore pipelines, shore 

 transfer stations and tankers at offshore moorings. Their site require- 

 ments for flat land are less stringent than those for other coastal projects 

 because they can be constructed in tiers. These terminals are used to 

 store either crude or processed products. 



Employment : A large number of individuals are employed during 

 construction; the size of the labor force can vary considerably depending 

 on the number of tanks and the complexity of pumping systems. Approximately 

 565 workers would be needed to construct a facility capable of handling 

 250,000 barrels of oil per day [26]. To construct a 1 mil lion-barrel - 

 per-day storage terminal would require up to 900 workers. A storage 

 terminal may be built in phases, in which case, lower levels of con- 

 struction employment can be maintained for a number of years. Once the 

 terminal begins operating, very few employees are required to run the 

 facility. The staff includes maintenance and administrative personnel. 



Induced Effects : During construction, wages will enter the local 

 economy at a significant level, and employment should draw on available 

 labor, especially at the unskilled level. Construction will be contracted 

 with a number of firms from both the local area and outside. The major 

 effect of a terminal after construction is unsightliness. The large 

 tanks dominating the coastal view may lower land values or slow down 

 price increases when compared with other areas. Examples of this potential 

 effect are terminals in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and Fall River, 

 Massachusetts. In Scotland, this potentially adverse effect was avoided 

 by locating the tank farms off the shoreline and behind large berms. 



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