Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays
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 of 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).
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH00016
- OSTI ID:
- 122292
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-62239; CONF-9509242-1; ON: DE96001756
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: International seminar on produced water and environmental aspects, Trondheim (Norway), 25-28 Sep 1995; Other Information: PBD: [1995]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana Open Bays
Final Report: Risk assessment for produced water discharges to Louisiana open bays