[Coral-List] Removal of rigs

[Eugene Shinn]

Steve is right about the devil in the details. I spent many years 
wrapped up in this issue. First with Shell in the early 1970s and later 
3 years on the Minerals Management Service  Science Advisory Committee 
2008-2010 (rig decommissioning sub committee) When I first joined I 
proposed windmills...especially for those off the Corpus Christy,Tx area 
where the wind blows night and day. Sarah Frias-Torres was right on 
target about wind energy.
The problem is migrating birds stop at rigs so companies might get bad 
publicity if they start killing birds (they tend to get bad publicity 
whatever they do) Never the less the structures would be ideal for some 
type of windmill and the pipe lines could be conduits. Killing the fish 
is awful and Alina raised the issue of the corals. In other situations 
they would be transplanted to other sites. In this case however due the 
the distances that would be extremely expensive. As Roy Ducote points 
out there are organizations trying to save the rigs. It is a problem of 
balancing energy needs and practical issues of ship navigation and 
shrimp nets. Was an Environmental Impact Statement prepared for this 
issue? Gene

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No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158
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