Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Paleontological Resources
The operation and maintenance of offshore facilities would have no direct impacts
on paleontological resources unless additional undisturbed areas are developed.
Potential indirect impacts associated with the operation and maintenance of onshore
facilities would be limited to unauthorized collection of fossils made possible by
access roads if they make remote lands accessible to the public.
Transportation
No noticeable impacts on transportation are likely during operations. Maintenance
vessels would service the hydrokinetic energy devices at regular intervals, but the
additional levels of activity resulting from this are anticipated to be small. Infrequent,
but routine, truck shipments of component replacements to the dock during mainte-
nance procedures are likely over the period of operation.
Visual Resources
Visual impacts of the operation of hydrokinetic energy devices would be the same
as those identified for construction activities, with the exception of the increase in
vessel and vehicle traffic associated with construction.
Socioeconomics
Direct impacts would include the creation of new jobs for operation and mainte-
nance workers and the associated income and taxes paid. Indirect impacts are those
impacts that would occur as a result of the new economic development and would
include things such as new jobs at businesses that support the workforce or that
provide project materials, and the associated income and taxes. However, the total
number of operations and maintenance jobs likely would be small; therefore, the
associated socioeconomic impacts are anticipated to be minimal.
Environmental Justice
If significant impacts occurred in any resource areas as a result of the operation of
hydrokinetic facilities, and these impacts disproportionately affect minority or low-
income populations, then there could be an environmental justice impact. Issues
of potential concern during operations are noise, ecological, and visual impacts.
Additional impacts include limitations on access to the area for tribal activities.
Acoustics (Noise)
Underwater and above-water noise sources include ship and barge noise associated
with transporting workers for maintenance activities, which would require frequent
(and possibly daily) trips to the wave or tidal turbine energy farm or to the river
in-stream turbines. Wave energy device noise would result from the flexing action
of attenuators and point absorbers, from compressed air released from oscillating
water column turbines, and from the impact of waves on terminator and overtop-
ping devices. Underwater noise from the operation of tidal or river in-stream tur-
bines is expected to be low because the rotational speed of the turbine blades is low.
Overall, noise from operation of the hydrokinetic energy devices is expected to be
