Proceedings of a Synthesis Meeting: The Norton Sound Environment and Possible Consequences of Planned Oil and Gas Development Anchorage, Alaska - October 28-30, 1980 Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program Juneau, Alaska United States Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Marine Pollution Assessment United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Proceedings of a Synthesis Meeting: The Norton Sound Environment and Possible Consequences of Planned Oil and Gas Development Anchorage, Alaska - October 28-30, 1980 S.T. Zimmerman (Editor) Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program Juneau, Alaska February, 1982 United States United States Department of Commerce Department of the Interior Malcolm Baldridge, Secretary James E. Watt, Secretary National Oceanic and Bureau of Land Management Atmospheric Administration Robert F. Burford, Director John V. Byrne, Administrator Office of Marine Pollution Assessment R. Lawrence Swanson, Director NOTICES This report has been reviewed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program Office, and approved for publication. Approval does not necessarily signify that the contents reflect the views and policies of the Department of Commerce or those of the Department of the Interior. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) does not approve, recommend, or endorse any proprietary product or pro- prietary material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to NOAA or to this publication in any advertising or sales promotion which would indicate or imply that NOAA approves, recommends, or endorses any proprietary product or proprietary material mentioned herein, or which has as its purpose an intent to cause directly or indirectly the advertised product to be used or purchased because of this publication. PREFACE The Norton Sound Synthesis Meeting was convened in Anchorage, Alaska, on October 28, 1980. The purposes of this meeting were: to synthesize our knowledge of the Norton Sound Lease Area (Sale No. 57) in order to facilitate the preparation of BLM's Draft Environmental Impact Statement due June 1981, to assess the likely impacts of petroleum development on the Sale 57 area through the considera- tion of various oil spill and tract deletion scenarios, and to determine needs for further scientific studies in the area. The agenda was divided into three major sections as follows: 1. An initial plenary session devoted to disciplinary overviews. In order of presentation, these were: Physical oceanography and circulation in Norton Sound by Robin D. Muench; Potential interactions of oil and ice in Norton Sound by Seelye Martin; Sedimentary process and potential geologic hazards on the seafloor of the Northern Bering Sea by Hans Nelson; Status of marine mammal populations in the Norton Sound Basin by Robert Nelson; Fishery resources of Norton Basin, their distribution, abundance and utilization by Robert Wolotira; Toxicity of oil in marine habitats by Donald Malins; Exploration and development techniques for Norton Sound Sale No. 57 by Larry Wolfson; Wind, waves, ice, and other environmental factors affecting oil and gas development in Nor- ton Sound by Walter Spring; and Proposed alternatives and development scenarios by Ray Emerson. In the interest of brevity, and because several of the manuscripts are almost exact duplicates of papers already published in OMPA's The Eastern Bering Sea She@ Oceanography and Resources, it was deemed inappropriate to attempt to reproduce all of the resulting manuscripts here. Copies of each manuscript are on file at the OCSEAP Office in Juneau and are available upon request. 2. Interdisciplinary discussion groups which met in concurrent pairs on the afternoon of the first day (Sessions A and B) and throughout the second day (Sessions C and D). Discussion topics were: Session A. What effects may OCS development have on the Yukon Delta Region? Session B. What effects may OCS development have on the ice front and open water biota, especially the marine mammals and birds.? Session C. What effects may OCS development have on the coastal and nearshore habitats within Norton Sound? Session D. What are the technologies available for OCS development in Norton Sound and how may they be affected by natural hazards? 3. A final plenary session which was held on the third morning in order that interdisciplinary session chairpersons could publicly present the results and conclusions of their groups. Unlike previous OCSEAP synthesis reports, this document does not attempt to provide an in-depth sum- mary or complete review of the status of scientific knowledge in the Norton Basin. Because this task has so recently been completed with the publication of OMPA's The Eastern Bering Sea She# Oceanography and Resources (Hood and Calder, 1981), this manuscript is intended primarily to provide a record of the specific activities of, and the conclusions reached by, the session participants during the interdisciplinary workshops. Sincere thanks go to the session chairpersons, rapporteurs, and the members of the various groups as identified in the text. Without their hard work this endeavor could not have been completed. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Preface ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... iv List of Figures .............................................................................................................. v List of Tables ............................................................................................................... vi I . Interdisciplinary Session A: Impacts of Potential OCS Development on the Yukon Delta Region ................................................................................................ 1 A . Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 B . The -Yukon Delta Environment ............................................................................. 1 C . Oil Transport Factors in the Yukon Delta Region .................................................... 4 D . Yukon Delta Research Needs ................................................................................ 6 E . Strategies to Mitigate OCS Impacts on the Yukon Delta Region ................................. 7 11. Interdisciplinary Sessions B and C: Impacts of Potential OCS Development on the Eastern and Western Norton Sound Regions ........................................................................... 8 A . Introduction ...................................................................................................... 8 B . Seasonal Summary of Major Oceanographic and Transport-related Events .................... 10 C . Distribution of Organisms .................................................................................... 13 D . Effects of Oil on Coastal and Nearshore Habitats .................................................... 32 E . Needs for Further Study by OCSEAP .................................................................... 37 I11 . Interdisciplinary Session D: Environmental Hazards to OCS Exploration and Development in Norton Sound. and the Status of Technologies to Cope with These Hazards .................. 41 A . Introduction ...................................................................................................... 41 B . Hazards. Facilities. and Activities .......................................................................... 41 C . Status of Technologies to Cope with Environmental Hazards ..................................... 46 D . Additional Data Needs to Address Environmental Hazards in Norton Sound ................ 47 E . Hazard Impact Relative to Proposed Lease Tract Options ........................................ 48 F . Summary of Hazard Impact on Norton Sound Exploration and Development ............... 49 G . Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 50 IV . References ............................................................................................................. 52 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. The northern Bering Sea region ........................................................................ Figure 2 . The Yukon Delta region showing interdistributary clear waters and the extent of storm surge flooding ...................................................................................... Figure 3 . Zonation of ice types in the Yukon Delta/Norton Sound region ............................. Figure 4 . Bathymetry of the Norton Sound region ............................................................ Figure 5 . Movement of water masses in the Bering Strait region .......................................... Figure 6 . Representative drift bottle release and recovery sites in the Norton Sound area ......... Figure 7 . Norton Sound ice floe trajectories ..................................................................... Figure 8 . A comparison of demersal fishery resources for regions of the Alaska continental shelf .................................................................................. Figure 9 . Distribution and relative abundance of blue