449 



Prepared Statement of Douglas Foy 



i. resource estimates 



The question of resource estimates has always loomed 

 large in the issue of oil and gas leasing on Georges Bank. 

 During Lease Sale 42, CLE and countless others argued that 

 six days supply of oil did not justify jeopardizing the 

 world's most productive fishery. 



The Department of the Interior's response was to promise 



that they intended to: 



start small, find the best spot, find out 

 what is there, find out what the problems 

 are, and then make a determination where to 

 go further, whether to find more oil or gas 

 in Georges Bank, if there is anything there 

 to find. 



CLF V. Andrus , Preliminary Injunction Hearing Transcript (McNaught) 

 November 2, 1979, pp. 3-83. 



Because of these promises. Interior was allowed to pro- 

 ceed with Lease Sale 42, to: "start small . . . find out 

 what is there." And as a direct result of this investigation, 

 resource estimates for Georges Bank have plummeted. Lease 

 Sale 52 estimates have been slashed from 1.73 billion to only 



