The Alaska District also issued a general directive favoring alternative means of accessing offshore oil, such as slant drilling from the shore, over causeways.
BP ultimately dropped the causeway in favor of slant drilling (which, in fact, proved quite profitable, as slant drilling allows greater recovery).
They show that some impacts are more acceptable with slant drilling (very low impact on fish population) and some are better with the causeway (water quality).
By comparing the total area of boxes favoring causeway (shown black) with those favoring slant drilling (cross-hatched), we have an indication of which option is preferred.
The question then arose, was there another option that could be used as a better alternative to slant drilling? The major
Evaluation of Alternatives Groups (1) Slant Drilling Subsea Pipeline ABC Acceptable Acceptable AB No Small AB - Equally negligible - ABC Less Equal to basic C $14-30 million more (5-10%) $37 million more (10-15%) A Less Equal ABC Very many Many ABC Normal Less (1) Active groups: A = public; B = local authorities; C = oil compani es.