and the needed water can be piped. Economics have generally dictated 

 their presence on the waterfront. 



Usually a refinery is closely associated with other operations, 

 such as oil storage facilities or petrochemical plants. The ecological 

 problems associated with such facilities usually concern pollution of 

 the adjacent waters, thus many of the adverse fish and wildlife effects 

 could be better controlled or eliminated by location at an inland site. 



Location of marine terminals at the mouths of bays and estuaries 

 would aid the flushing and dispersion of silts stirred by boats approaching 

 the facility and of petroleum discharges from engines and other sources. 

 Channels and harbors that will require as little dredging as possible 

 should be considered as the best choices for the location of the terminal. 



Relatively flat land is needed for the installation of refinery 

 processing equipment. With level, shorefront land zoned for industry at 

 a premium along the coast, the chances increase that wetlands will be 

 filled to obtain the desired elevation. If this is done, important 

 spawning/breeding and rearing areas of a variety of fish and wildlife 

 will be lost. In addition, water circulation currents will be altered, 

 perhaps leading to changes in parameters such as salinity, temperature, 

 oxygen, etc. 



Design : The need for adequate navigation channels and a turning 

 basin will cause dredging problems of turbidity and sedimentation, which 

 may lead to the smothering of clams, oysters and other sessile organisms. 

 Oxygen depletion is also associated with dredging. Channels should be 

 designed to limit the amount of initial and maintenance dredging. The 

 channel route should be the shortest distance to the facility for dredging 

 with minimum disruption of fish and wildlife habitat. Also to be considered 

 is the type of bottom material, with loose, unconsolidated material 

 requiring maintenance dredging more often. 



With the need to service large tankers, the selected deepwater site 

 will need ample space to allow maneuvering of the large ships, including 

 turn-around capability. To reduce the chance of accidental oil spills, 

 a fail-safe transfer system should be employed to keep human error to a 

 minimum. A sophisticated monitoring system, which not only records 

 unloading operations but gives indications of possible trouble sources, 

 should be incorporated into the design. 



With the possibility that crude oil tankers would be situated in 

 deep waters distant from shore, provision should be made for general 

 boat traffic to pass safely and easily without having to travel around 

 the end of the pier. This will reduce the potential for boating accidents. 

 The pier design should utilize open piles and avoid a solid-fill structure. 

 The latter type alters the natural configuration of the shoreline and 

 robs areas down the shore of needed sand by interrupting littoral drift. 



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