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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 



Office of the Governor, 

 Harrlslyurg, Pa., December 9, 1971. 

 Hon. Edward M. Kennedy, 

 U.S. Senate, 

 Washington, D.C. 



Dear Ted : Appreciate your recent letter regarding the request of tlie Depart- 

 ment of the Interior for my comments on their tentative plans to permit off-shore 

 oil drilling in the Atlantic. 



I share the same concerns you do and feel the present program of the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior may have to be extended considerably in order to protect 

 the environment. 



Your suggestion for independent studies of the hazards of off-shore drilling is 

 a sound one which will receive my support. 

 Sincerely, 



Milton J. Shapp, Governor. 



Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, 



University System of Georgia, 



Savanna?!, Ga., Fehruary 2, 1912. 

 Hon. Edv>^ard M. Kennedy, 

 U.S. Senate, 

 Washington, D.C. 



Dfar Senator Kennedy: The following is in answer to your letter of Janu- 

 ary 14, 1972, requesting comment on the potential environment hazard of offshore 

 drilling in the Atlantic. 



As a matter of background, it should be pointed out that the entire cost of 

 Georgia and parts of South Carolina and Florida are characterized by extensive 

 salt marshes. These are protected from the ocean by barrier islands. An average 

 tidal amplitude of 7 ft. causes approximately 20 percent of the volume within the 

 marshes to flush with each tidal cycle. Back and forth sloshing causes the re- 

 maining 80 percent of the water to move back and forth resulting in considerable 

 dispersion of floating debris. Marshes are the spawning grounds of major offshore 

 fisheries and are, or can be made, major producers of shell fish and shrimp. These 

 fisheries depend, to a great extent, on the invertebrate fauna of the marshes for 

 food. Significant quantities of organic matter produced within marshes is added 

 annually to continental shelf areas and helps maintain fisheries there. In addi- 

 tion, since much of the South Carolina and Georgia coastlines are low lying, the 

 marshes impose a physical barrier to wave action from the open sea and help 

 buffer the effects of hurricanes and storms which may otherwise cause more ex- 

 tensive coastal fiooding. 



We are, unfortunately, not in a position to say what the effect of a major oil 

 spill would be on the coastal marsh system. Based on data of British scientists, it 

 is unlikely that there would be a major effect on the marsh grass per se, unless the 

 oil were heavily concentrated and came ashore as a block. In most regions this 

 type of a spill is visible and the effects have serious aesthetic and monetary 

 consequences directly related to the spoilage of beaches, anchorages, etc. 



Most of the Georgia coastline is not scrutinized daily and major spills might go 

 unnoticed for some time. The effect of oil on marine life is not clear, and the data 

 contradictory. Mass mortalities of shell fish were demonstrated in the W. Fal- 

 month, Mass., spill but not in the Santa Barbara blowout. In the latter, the most 

 serious visible mortality was to sea birds. The W. Falmouth area is more directly 

 comparable to the Georgia coastline than Santa Barbara since the coastal waters 

 are shallow, not exceeding 200 ft. until 80 miles offshore. The chances of oil 

 mixing vertically to the bottom in these areas is greater than in the deeper waters 

 off California and thus a more direct effect on wildlife on the continental shelf 

 might be expected. 



Once oil reaches the marshes one can expect that major mortalities would 

 oceure to shellfish and shrimp and that most of the smaller invertebrate fauna of 

 the marshes would be eliminated. The effect of a single injection of oil to this 

 environment would be greatly amplified because tidal action in semi-restricted 

 waters would distribute the oil over a much larger area than would occur on an 

 open shoreline. If the spill reached shore on an above average high tide (spring 

 tides), it would remain intact until comparable high tides occurred many months 



