DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT PROPOSED 1985 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND GAS LEASE SALE OFFSHORE THE MID-ATLANTIC STATES OCS SALE NO. 111 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PREPARED BY MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE ATLANTIC OCS REGION NOVEMBER, 1984 U. VA. OCT 14 1986 Cover Sheet Draft Environmental Impact Statement Proposed 1985 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale No. 111 Lead Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Atlantic OCS Region Abstract: The proposed action is the offering of 3,566 blocks (20.3 million acres) located from 25 to 140 statute miles offshore Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina for leasing in accordance with the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, as amended. The average water depths of these blocks range from 40 to 3,200 m (132 to 10,560 feet). Sale No. 111 is tentatively scheduled for October 1985. Alternatives considered include a delay of the sale, canceling the sale (no action), and two deferral alternatives. The deferral alternatives include one concerning blocks in the surface-free zone for the NASA Wallops Island Flight Facility, and one to protect the biota of submarine canyon areas. Oil and gas activities on all blocks studied in this Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) pose some risk to the environment. Mitigating measures which may reduce the risk have been identified. Areas of Potential Impact Onshore: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, and their coastal waters. Draft Environmental Impact Statement Summary The Proposed Action The proposal is to offer 3,566 blocks on the Mid-Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for leasing in accordance with the OCS Lands Act, as amended, to explore, develop, and produce hydrocarbon resources. These blocks extend from the State of Rhode Island to the State of North Carolina and cover approximately 20.3 million acres. They are located from 50 miles (25 mi off North Carolina) to 140 miles offshore in water depths that vary from 40 to 3,200 m. Most of the proposed sale area lies seaward of the continental shelf, under the deeper waters of the slope. There is an ancient buried reef that can be traced, with gaps, from offshore Mexico through the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic continental margin. This reef forms the seaward edge of the Baltimore Canyon Trough in the Mid-Atlantic and can be traced through the proposed sale area. The nation's energy and security needs will be served by early testing and development of this area of potential hydrocarbon accumulation. Proposed Sale No. 111, the sixth in the Mid-Atlantic region, is tentatively scheduled for October 1985. Of 31 exploratory wells drilled in the region, 26 have been dry holes and 5 contained non-commercial quantities of mainly natural gas. All of the leases on these blocks have expired or been relinquished and could be offered again in the proposed sale. The Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimates that the proposed sale may produce a mean of 200 million barrels of oil and 3.6 trillion cubic feet of gas. These estimates have been used to determine the probable environmental and socioeconomic impacts of discovering and recovering oil and gas in the proposed lease sale area. Issues and Areas of Concern The major issues and primary areas of concern were identified through the process known as "scoping. The affected coastal States, Federal agencies, the petroleum industry, and public interest groups submitted their comments on the proposed sale area through the scoping process. These have been analyzed and the following issues identified: Impacts on the commercial and sport fisheries - Impacts on estuaries, wetlands, and coastal habitats Impacts on endangered and threatened species and species of concern |