1 MS. HUGHES: I only raised it because it was my impression that we 



2 were trying to work up to some of those conclusions and that, certainly, 



3 in this morning's discussion and even comments that, for example, Dick 



4 made yesterday that as far as he is concerned, the biggest impact would 



5 be a massive spill . 



6 I am very pleased and I think it would be wonderful if this group 



7 recommended that. It's just that it came as a surprise to hear it. 



8 DR. AURAND: Minerals Management would not allow the burial of a 



9 live bottom area, if you want to use the analogy. We do not allow the 



10 burial of a live bottom area in the Gulf of Mexico. 



11 I suspect — although I am not in the operational side of the 



12 house--that we would not issue a permit allowing them to bury a special 



13 biological habitat here, either, unless there was no other option. 



14 That's the one kicker. 



15 If you are in a lease block where there is no option and you can 



16 show that it's not unique for that lease block and that you are not 



17 going to be taking a lot of the habitat, then you might get permission 



18 to do that or to have special stipulations, but we wouldn't probably 



19 allow that in the first place. 



20 MR. VILD: I think we really need some sort of classification 



21 about where exactly we are going on it, because does that mean that 



22 there is still a possibility that the Interior Department would try to 



23 lease those blocks with the idea of having a stipulation that would 



24 prohibit discharges, that is, prohibit the burial of those live bottom 



25 communities? 



26 Or, are we talking about the sort of situation, like what John was 



27 alluding to just a few seconds ago, that there is really no way in hell 



28 that those areas will ever be offered? Well, there is no way in hell 



29 that they will ever be leased, because if they are offered, the 



30 governors of New England or the Mid-Atlantic or wherever the canyons are 



31 located are going to very vigorously oppose it. 



32 DR. AURAND: That is not exactly what I heard him say. What I 



33 heard him say was that if we came up with a recommendation that we were 



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