Minerals Management Service

• Main Authors: In The Chukchi Sea, Volume I, Lease Sale
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: Lead Agency; Barrow Canyon; Chukchi Sea; Chukchi
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.383.4799; http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/74172807/74172807v1.pdf

National Marine Fisheries Service Abstract: This environmental impact statement (EIS) assesses the Proposed Action and alternatives for Lease Sale 193 for the Chukchi Sea OCS Planning Area. Sale 193 is currently scheduled to be held in 2007. The proposed sale includes consideration of 6,155 whole or partial blocks in the Chukchi Sea Planning Area, covering about 34 million acres. The proposed sale area and two deferral alternatives (Alternatives III and IV) exclude a 15- to 50-milewide corridor along the coast, the polynya or Spring Lead System. Water depths in the proposed sale area vary from approximately 95 feet (ft) to approximately 262 ft, with a small portion of the northeast corner of the area deepening to approximately 9,800 ft in an area known as Barrow Canyon. For each alternative, the EIS evaluates the effects to the human, physical, and biological resources from routine activities and from the unlikely chance of a large oil spill. Alternative II is the No Lease Sale Alternative, which means cancellation of the sale. A cumulative-effects analysis evaluates the environmental effects of the Proposed