Monitoring hydrocarbons and trace metals in Beaufort Sea sediments and organisms. Final report

Technical Report · Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990

OSTI ID:5201233

Boehm, P; LeBlanc, L; Trefry, J; Marajh-Whittemore, P; Brown, J

As part of the Minerals Management Service's environmental studies of oil and gas exploration and production activities in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, a study was conducted in 1989 to monitor the marine environment for inputs of chemicals related to drilling and exploration. The 1989 Beaufort Sea Monitoring Program (BSMP) was designed to monitor sediments and selected benthic organisms for trace metals and hydrocarbons so as to infer any changes that might have resulted from drilling and production activities. A series of 49 stations were sampled during the program. The study area extended from Cape Halkett on the western end of Harrison Bay to Griffin Point, east of Barter Island. The sampling design combined an area-wide approach in which stations were treated as replicates of 8 specific geographic regions, with an activity-specific approach, which focused on the potential establishment of metal or hydrocarbon concentration gradients with distance from the Endicott Production Field in Prudhoe Bay. The analytical program focused on the analysis of the fine-fraction of the sediment for a series of trace metals and elements and the analysis of a suite of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons in the bulk sediment. The total organic carbon (TOB) content and the grain size distribution in the sediments were determined as well. Benthic bivalve molluscs, representative of several feeding types were collected from those stations for which data previously existed from the 1984-1986 BSMP, and were analyzed for metals and saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons. The benthic amphipods were collected, pooled by station or region, and analyzed as well.

• Research Organization: Little (Arthur D.), Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 5201233
• Report Number(s): PB-91-235259/XAB; ADL-REF-63716; CNN: DI-14-35-0001-30478
• Resource Relation: Other Information: See also PB88-167812. Sponsored by Minerals Management Service, Anchorage, AK. Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Office
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BEAUFORT SEA
WATER POLLUTION
HYDROCARBONS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
METALS
MOLLUSCS
SENSITIVITY
PETROLEUM
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
SEDIMENTS
CONTAMINATION
ALASKA
BENTHOS
BIOASSAY
DATA PROCESSING
EXPLORATION
MONITORING
OFFSHORE DRILLING
TRACE AMOUNTS
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARCTIC OCEAN
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DRILLING
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION X
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INVERTEBRATES
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
PROCESSING
SEAS
SURFACE WATERS
USA
020900* - Petroleum- Environmental Aspects
540320 - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology