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Description:In July 1979, an oil well blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico released mil lions of gallons of crude that coated miles of Texas beaches and shoreline property. The previous month, the Caribbean Isles were coated by thousands of gallons of oil spilled by the collision of two tankers. A few years ago, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz broke up while passing through the English Channel, spewing crude oil onto the beaches of central France. Moreover, Americans will not soon forget the darkening of Santa Barbara's beaches from the oil well blow-out in the 1960's. There is a potential for disaster where oil refineries, oil wells, and routes of oil transportation are located, regardless of whether there are collisions of oil tankers, ruptures of pipelines, or well blow-outs. Major oil spills have closed tourist beaches, eliminated commercial and sport fishing areas, and killed various species of wildlife, especially shore birds. Moreover, local economies have been devastated by an oil spill. The problems that have plagued other parts of the world are now closer to North Carolina. Two oil refineries are proposed for construction in Brunswick and Carteret counties. The economic benefits to the coastal area will be substantial. These benefits are welcome by county officials, chamber of commerce members, and state government officials. Yet, environmentalis​ts, citizens, and state officials wish to insure that the operations are as safe as possible. To assist in shedding some light on the possible problems, this study will examine how effectively federal and state regulations relative to the construction and operation of oil refineries, will assess and alleviate any possible adverse impacts. Any deficiencies in the regulations are identified and possible solutions are discussed.
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Sea Grant Document Number:NCU-T-80-002
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Rights Information:Public Domain
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