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Title: Final Report: Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays

Abstract

Potential human health and environmental impacts from discharges of produced water to the Gulf of Mexico are of concern to regulators at the State and Federal levels, the public, environmental interest groups and industry. Current and proposed regulations require a zero discharge limit for coastal facilities, based primarily on studies in low energy, poorly flushed environments. However, produced water discharges in coastal Louisiana include a number of open bay sites, where potential human health and environmental impacts are likely to be smaller than those demonstrated for low energy canal environments, but greater than the minimal impacts associated with offshore discharges. Additional data and assessments are needed to support risk managers at the State and Federal levels in the development of regulations that protect human health and the environment without unnecessary cost to the economic welfare of the region and the nation. This project supports the Natural Gas and Oil Initiative objectives to: (1) improve coordination on environmental research; (2) streamline State and Federal regulation; (3) enhance State, and Federal regulatory decision making capability; (4) enhance dialogue through industry/government/public partnerships; and (5) work with States and Native American Tribes.

Authors:
; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
266893
Report Number(s):
BNL-62975-Rev.6/96
ON: DE96012613; TRN: 96:004359
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Mar 1996
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
02 PETROLEUM; 03 NATURAL GAS; WASTE WATER; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS; WASTE DISPOSAL; HEALTH HAZARDS; RISK ASSESSMENT; FISHES; INGESTION; CONTAMINATION; RADIUM; BAYS; GULF OF MEXICO; NATURAL GAS FIELDS; AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS; LOUISIANA; METALS; SEDIMENTS; POLLUTION; OIL WELLS; BENTHOS; NEOPLASMS; MORTALITY; TOXICITY; MERCURY; BENZENE

Citation Formats

Meinhold, A.F., DePhillips, M.P., and Holtzman, S. Final Report: Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays. United States: N. p., 1996. Web. doi:10.2172/266893.
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Meinhold, A.F., DePhillips, M.P., & Holtzman, S. Final Report: Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays. United States. doi:10.2172/266893.
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Meinhold, A.F., DePhillips, M.P., and Holtzman, S. Fri . "Final Report: Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays". United States. doi:10.2172/266893. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/266893.
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@article{osti_266893,
title = {Final Report: Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays},
author = {Meinhold, A.F. and DePhillips, M.P. and Holtzman, S.},
abstractNote = {Potential human health and environmental impacts from discharges of produced water to the Gulf of Mexico are of concern to regulators at the State and Federal levels, the public, environmental interest groups and industry. Current and proposed regulations require a zero discharge limit for coastal facilities, based primarily on studies in low energy, poorly flushed environments. However, produced water discharges in coastal Louisiana include a number of open bay sites, where potential human health and environmental impacts are likely to be smaller than those demonstrated for low energy canal environments, but greater than the minimal impacts associated with offshore discharges. Additional data and assessments are needed to support risk managers at the State and Federal levels in the development of regulations that protect human health and the environment without unnecessary cost to the economic welfare of the region and the nation. This project supports the Natural Gas and Oil Initiative objectives to: (1) improve coordination on environmental research; (2) streamline State and Federal regulation; (3) enhance State, and Federal regulatory decision making capability; (4) enhance dialogue through industry/government/public partnerships; and (5) work with States and Native American Tribes.},
doi = {10.2172/266893},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1996},
month = {Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1996}
}
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Technical Report:
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DOI:  10.2172/266893
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  • ; ;
    The US Department of Energy (USDOE) has a program of research in the environmental aspects of oil and gas extraction. This sampling project will characterize the environmental impacts associated with the discharge of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), metals and organics in produced water. This report is part of a series of studies of the health and ecological risks from discharges of produced water to the Gulf of Mexico, supported by the USDOE. These assessments are being coordinated with the field study, using the collected data to perform human health and ecological risk assessments. These assessments will provide input tomore » regulators in the development of guidelines and permits, and to industry in the development and use of appropriate discharge practices. The initial human health and ecological risk assessments consist of conservative screening analyses meant to identify potentially important contaminants, and to eliminate others from further consideration. More quantitative assessments were done for contaminants identified, in the screening analysis, as being of potential concern. Section 2 gives an overview of human health and ecological risk assessment to help put the analyses presented here in perspective. Section 3 provides the hazard assessment portion of the risk assessment, and identifies the important receptors and pathways of concern. Section 3 also outlines the approach taken to the risk assessments presented in the rest of the report. The remaining sections (4 through 9) present the human health and ecological risk assessments for discharges of produced water to open bays in Louisiana.« less

  • ; ;
    Data were collected prior to termination of discharge at three sites (including two open bay sites at Delacroix Island and Bay De Chene) for the risk assessments. The Delacroix Island Oil and Gas Field has been in production since the first well drilling in 1940; the Bay De Chene Field, since 1942. Concentrations of 226Ra, 228Ra, 210Po, and 228Th were measured in discharges. Radium conc. were measured in fish and shellfish tissues. Sediment PAH and metal conc. were also available. Benthos sampling was conducted. A survey of fishermen was conducted. The tiered risk assessment showed that human health risks frommore » radium in produced water appear to be small; ecological risk from radium and other radionuclides in produced water also appear small. Many of the chemical contaminants discharged to open Louisiana bays appear to present little human health or ecological risk. A conservative screening analysis suggested potential risks to human health from Hg and Pb and a potential risk to ecological receptors from total effluent, Sb, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, Ag, Zn, and phenol in the water column and PAHs in sediment; quantitiative risk assessments are being done for these contaminants.« less

  • ; ;
    Potential human health and environmental impacts from discharge of produced water to the Gulf of Mexico concern regulators at the State and Federal levels, environmental interest groups, industry and the public. Current regulations in the United States require or propose azero discharge limit for coastal facilities based primarily on studies performed in low energy,poorly flushed environments. Produced water discharges in coastal Louisiana, however,include a number located in open bays, where potential and impacts are likely to be larger than the minimal impacts associated with offshore discharges, but smaller than those demonstrated in low-energy canal environments. This paper summarizes results ofmore » a conservative screening-level health and ecological assessment for contaminants discharged in produced water to open bays in Louisiana, and reports results of a probabilistic human health risk assessment for radium and lead. The initial human health and ecological risk assessments consisted of conservative screening analyses that identified potentially important contaminants and excluded others from further consideration. A more quantitative probabilistic risk assessment was completed for the human health effects of the two contaminants identified in this screen: radium and lead. This work is part of a series of studies on the health and ecological risks from discharges of produced water to the Gulf of Mexico, supported by the United States Department of Energy (USDOE).« less

  • Region 6 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issues final NPDES General Permits regulating discharges of produced water and produced sand derived from oil and gas point source facilities. The permits prohibit the discharge of produced water and produced sand derived from Coastal Subcategory to any water subject to EPA jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. Discharges to coastal waters of Louisiana and Texas of produced water and produced sand derived from most Stripper Subcategory and all Offshore Subcategory (40 CFR part 435, subpart A) facilities covered by these permits are prohibited.

  • ; ; ; ...
    Produced water generated during the production of oil and gas can contain high concentrations of radionuclides, organics and heavy metals. There are concerns about potential human health and ecological impacts from the discharge of these contaminants to the Gulf of Mexico. Data collected in the United States Department of Energy (USDOE) field study are being used in a series of human health and ecological risk assessments. These assessments will support scientifically-based regulation and risk management. This presentation: summarizes risk assessments performed for produced water discharges; describes how uncertainties in these assessments are guiding data collection efforts in the USDOE fieldmore » study; and outlines ongoing risk assessment studies. In these studies, risk assessment is treated as an iterative process. An initial screening-level assessment is performed to identify important contaminants, transport and exposure pathways, and parameters. These intermediate results are used to guide data collection efforts and refinements to the analysis. At this stage in the analysis, risk is described in terms of probabilities; the uncertainties in each measured or modeled parameter are considered explicitly.« less