RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ALONG COASTS 



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I ' N ORTHE AST 

 'GULF OF ALASKA 



GULF OF ALASKA- 

 ALEUTIANS 



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170 



160 



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140 



Fig. 1. North Pacific, showing portions of the outer continental shelf being considered for gas and oil leas- 

 ing by the Federal Government (vertical hatching) and areas leased or proposed for leasing by the State 

 of Alaska (cross hatching). 



Kinney et al. (1970) reported that in Cook 

 Inlet, Alaska, an estimated 0.3% of the oil 

 produced and handled in offshore platform 

 wells is spilled. Several routine offshore opera- 

 tions result in discharges of oil and other 

 materials into water, and, unlike accidental 

 spills, the probability of their occurrence is 

 100% (Council on Environmental Quality 

 1974). During drilling operations, cleaned 

 drilling mud and drill cuttings are discharged 

 overboard. Drilling mud may consist of such 

 substances as bentonite clay, caustic soda, or- 

 ganic polymer, proprietory defoamer, and 

 ferrochrome lignosulfate. Waters from geo- 

 logical formations are often produced and dis- 

 charged into the sea while the wells are in pro- 

 duction. These waters may be fresh or saline, 

 and often contain small amounts of oil. All of 

 these pollutants increase the adverse effects 

 of offshore oil production, and when potential 

 spills are also considered, the ultimate impact 

 on the marine ecosystem may be substantial. 



The State of Alaska has already leased off- 

 shore sites in Kachemak Bay, and present 

 considerations for future leases in the lower 

 Cook Inlet and Beaufort Sea further reflect 



the widespread and massive nature of petro- 

 chemical developments in the Arctic planned 

 for the next 2 decades (Fig. 1). Proved crude 

 oil reserves are less than 1 billion barrels and 

 natural gas reserves are less than 2 trillion 

 cubic feet in Cook Inlet, but it appears that 

 undiscovered recoverable oil and gas re- 

 sources may be much greater (Council on En- 

 vironmental Quality 1974). There are also in- 

 dications that known onshore oil reserves 

 along Alaska's northwest coast will soon be 

 opened for development by the Arctic Slope 

 Regional Corporation, landowners in the area 

 as a result of the Native Land Claims Act of 

 1971. This group is at least considering the 

 transportation of these petroleum products to 

 market in tankers, from an open-water port in 

 the Chukchi Sea thereby adding to the 

 tanker traffic in northern waters. 



Hard Mineral Resource Development 



As indicated by Bartonek et al. (1971), there 

 has been renewed interest in opening up 

 Alaska's hard mineral resources to economic 

 development as new transportation routes 



