Environmental Impact Of A 4-KM Causeway At Prudhoe Bay, Alaska: How Could Government and Industry Benefit?

The gravel-fill Prudhoe Bay Causeway extends 4-km into the Beaufort Sea at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and has a noticeable impact on local physical and biological conditions during the short arctic summer. The prime marine ecological concerns, as expressed by state and federal resource agencies, are the extent to which the causeway will impede the migration of anadromous fish along the coast during the short open-water period and the alteration of the marine habitat. The physical and biological impacts of the causeway have been studied since 1974 in several programs required by regulatory permit stipulations. The studies were designed to meet one or more of several objectives including (1) validate predictions of environmental impacts due to the causeway; (2) evaluate mitigation measures incorporated in the causeway design; (3) provide background information that would guide industry in developing environmentally acceptable projects as the offshore oil industry expands in the Arctic; and (4) provide governmental regulatory agencies with information needed for future permit stipulations. The initial findings provide data useful for preliminary assessments of requests for permits to construct additional similar structures in this harsh environment. The data are also being used by the design engineers to refine or modify the design of similar proposed structures.