Ch. 1 Summary, Issues, and Options • 21 



Anticipating and avoiding high-risk, 

 sensitive areas and mitigating damage 

 through improved equipment design 

 and operating procedures can reduce the 

 impacts from offshore mining. 



What effects might extensive mining in shallow 

 waters have on the coastline? The removal of large 

 quantities of sand and gravel or placers in near- 

 shore areas might alter the coastline and aggravate 

 coastal erosion by altering waves and tides. Experi- 

 ence with sand removal off Grand Isle, Louisiana, 

 for beach replenishment suggests that the mining 

 of even small areas to substantial depths may cause 

 serious damage to the shoreline. This potential 

 problem requires considerably more investigation. 



More, too, should be learned about the struc- 

 ture and energetics of deep-sea communities. How- 

 ever, to do so requires expensive submersibles and 

 elaborate sampling equipment because of the dif- 

 ficulty of operating at great depths. 



A considerable amount of environmental data 

 already has been collected by a number of Federal 

 agencies as part of their missions. Much of the in- 

 formation remains in the files of each agency, and 

 only a small part finds its way into the public liter- 

 ature. Some of this environmental information 

 could be useful in planning offshore mining oper- 

 ations. The public investment in such environ- 

 mental information represents hundreds of millions 



Photo credit: Barbara Hecker, Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory 



Little is l<nown about tlie energetics and structure 



of marine communities in deep-ocean space or the 



environmental effects that seabed mining might have 



on these ecosystems. 



of dollars. An additional modest investment to com- 

 pile a compendium and archive the information for 

 use by the States, the private and public sector, and 

 the scientific community would enhance its value. 



COLLECTING AND MANAGING OCEANOGRAPHIC DATA 



Several Federal agencies share responsibility for 

 exploring various aspects of the U.S. EEZ. In addi- 

 tion, coastal States, oceanographic institutions, aca- 

 demic institutions, and private industry also con- 

 tribute information and data about the Nation's 

 offshore areas. All of these institutions, except the 

 private firms, are funded primarily with public 

 funds. The overall investment in collecting oceano- 

 graphic data related to exploring the EEZ is not 

 trivial, nor are the problems of coordinating explo- 

 ration efforts and archiving the results. 



At a time when the Federal Government is strug- 

 gling to reduce the Federal budget deficit, it is im- 

 portant to ensure that Federal agencies coordinate 

 their complementary and overlapping functions and 

 promote a spirit of cooperation among investiga- 

 tors that will encourage efficiency and responsibil- 

 ity. With regard to EEZ exploratory programs, 

 there have been notable and unprecedented achieve- 

 ments in cooperation and communication between 

 the Department of the Interior (DOI) and NOAA 

 during the last few years. USGS and NOAA have 



