National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1971, Applicability of NASA contract quality management and failure mode effect analysis procedures to the USGS Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease management program.

Oklahoma, University of, 1973, Energy under the ocean, a technology assessment of Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas operations.

Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 USC, sec. 1331-1343).

Straughan, D., 1971, Biological and oceanographical survey of the Santa Barbara oil spill 1969-1970, Vol. I: Allan Hancock Foundation, University of Southern California.

Turner, C. H., E. Ebert, and R. Given, 1969, Man-made reef ecology: California Department, Fish and Game, Fish Bulletin 146, 221 p.

U. S. Bureau Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, 1972, United States' list of endangered fish and wildlife (Appendix D).

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1961, Commercial fishing gear of the United States: Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Circular No. 109, Washington, D.C.

U. S. Geological Survey, 1971, Geology of the compacting deposits in the Los Banos-Kettleman City subsidence area, California: U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 497-E.

study.

1972, Outer Continental Shelf lease management

1973, Supplement No. 1 to the report of the Work

Group on OCS Safety and Pollution Control.

June 1974, Notice to lessees and operators of Federal oil and gas leases in the Outer Continental Shelf, Pacific Region OCS orders.

Vedder, J. G., H. C. Wagner, and J. E. Schoellhamer, 1969, Geology petroleum development, and seismicity of the Santa Barbara Channel region, California: U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 679.

References added since initial manuscript preparation

California Legislature, July 18, 1974, Report on Hearings Regarding Offshore Oil Drilling: Assembly Select Committee on Coastal Zone Resources.

U. S. Senate, November 1974, Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Development and the Coastal Zone: 93d Congress, 2d Session Committee Print, prepared for the use of the Committee on Commerce persuant to S. Res. 222, National Ocean Policy Study, 25 p.

V. UNAVOIDABLE ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

Unavoidable adverse effects that might result from oil and gas activities on Federal OCS lands in the Santa Barbara Channel are as follows:

A. Oil Pollution Effects on Marine Environment

Information presented in section III shows that small intermittent or continuous oil discharges (normally less than 25 ppm oil in produced waste water discharge) and small inadvertent recurrent oil spills probably would occur, and occasional major spills might occur from such activities. Research on long-term effects of oil spills on the marine environment is underway and studies of the effects of oil spills in the Santa Barbara Channel and elsewhere have been summarized in several reports. However, the studies have varied in procedure, the extent and composition of the products spilled have differed, and the natural and physical conditions have varied. The magnitude of impact of a spill is directly related to the volume and duration of pollution and the physical conditions under which it occurs. The severity of impact also depends upon the types and quantities of vulnerable wildlife present.

The effects of oil spills on the environment, some of which are discussed in section III of this statement, although controversial among experts, seem to indicate that damage to the natural system from spills of crude oil has been less severe than that resulting from spills of more highly refined fuels. Regardless of the nature of the oil, however, the normal "health" of the ecosystems is disrupted and some balance is lost during the period of recovery.

1. Marine and Marine-Associated Birds and Mammals

In the event of an oil spill, the severity of the impact on

wildlife is dependent upon the quantity and type of oil, the abundance and species present, migratory patterns, stage of breeding and rearing of young,

seasonal factors, meteorological and oceanographic conditions, and other

variables.

Many birds and mammals of the open ocean avoid oil to some degree. During the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill they were observed moving away from the slick itself.

a. Birds

Aquatic-related bird species in the Santa Barbara Channel

This

region that were most affected in the 1969 oil spill were those that swim at the surface, such as cormorants, loons and grebes. An estimated 3,600 to 6,800 birds, mainly loons and grebes, died as a result of the 1969 spill from Platform A. At that time techniques for treating the affected birds were inadequate and the survival rate was low. Since then survival rates of 41 to 50 percent have been recorded in 1973 (section III.L.6.). increase was directly related to improved techniques. The bird population around Santa Barbara has recovered from the effects of the 1969 spill. Rare and endangered species in the Channel area include the California least tern (Sterna albifrons browni), which uses the beach areas for nesting; and the resident California brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus). The brown pelican uses the offshore waters for feeding and nests on Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands.

b. Mammals

Marine-associated mammals of the Channel include whales, dolphins, sea lions, and elephant seals. Sea lion and elephant seal rookeries on the Santa Barbara Channel Islands would be susceptible to severe impact should a major spill reach the rookeries before pups were weaned, a

period when there would be a greater possibility of oil ingestion.

Reports on the impact of the 1969 Santa Barbara Channel spill generally do not attribute the death of marine mammals to the oil spill, but the direct and indirect effects of oil have not been completely investigated.

2. Benthic Organisms

Patterns of crude oil dispersion offshore are similar regardless

of the source (see section III.L.1.) In the Santa Barbara Channel, benthic organisms of the intertidal zone would be most affected if oil were washed upon the shore. Tide-pool animals would be affected to a lesser degree. Benthic organisms of the subtidal and bathyal zones would be least affected. No rare or endangered benthic species should be affected. Due to the mitigating measures for the operational phase (see section IV), the potential for major impacts on benthic organisms is minor.

The major potential impact on bottom sediments would be the formation of tarballs (a mixture of higher density oil components and sediments). These generally are formed and deposited at some distance from the site of the spill. Unlike natural tar seeps on land, spilled oil would not cover or blanket the bottom sediments, or bear resemblance to the vents of natural tar seeps offshore. A cumulative effect on bottom sediments would be an increase in tarballs which have been found on beaches, in deep basins, and floating in the open ocean.

4. Beaches and Shoreline Recreation

The most serious impact on beaches and shoreline recreation would be the remote possibility of an uncontained minor or major oil spill reaching the nearshore and beach areas. The magnitude of the impact, until