Environmental Effects of Offshore Oil Production

The Buccaneer Gas and Oil Field Study has been the most comprehensive research project to date concerned with assessing the ecological effects of offshore production activities. It took nearly five years to complete and involved almost 30 individual research groups. All of the raw data have been archived with NOAA's Environmental Data and Information Services, and detailed technical reports have been deposited with the National Technical Information Service so the interested investigator should be able to gain access to them. However, we felt that it would be desirable to present a distillation of our more significant findings in a form that was more readily available to the scientific and lay community. Thus, we conducted a symposium. on the study during EXPOCHEM '80 at the Astrohall, Houston, Texas during October, 1980. This volume comprises the proceedings of that symposium. All but two of the papers presented are included in this book. Manuscripts were not received from Dr. D. A. Wiesenburg (Texas A&M University: Volatile Hydrocarbons) or Dr. J. Tillery (Southwest Research Institute: Trace Metals), but these topics are adequately covered by other authors. An introductory chapter was added to place the study in its proper perspective and to provide some background material on the Buccaneer Field, a brief chapter on biocides was inserted since this topic generated much dis­ cussion at the symposium, and a bibliography is provided to direct the interested reader to sources of additional published infor­ mation on the Study.

Contenu

Prologue.- Major Spills.- Tanker Wrecks.- Drilling Accidents.- Other Sources of Oil.- Natural Seeps.- Anthropogenic Sources.- Relative Significance.- Previous Studies in the Gulf of Mexico.- The Buccaneer Gas and Oil Field Study.- Rationale.- Objectives.- The Buccaneer Field.- References.- Hydrocarbons and Sulfur.- Experimental Procedures.- Sampling Design.- Sampling Procedures.- Analytical Procedures.- Results.- Oil and Condensate.- Produced Water.- Other Platform Discharges.- Seawater.- Surficial Sediments.- Sediment Traps.- Platform Fouling Community.- Fish.- Shrimp.- Other Biota.- Lipids.- Discussion.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Biocides.- Biocides Employed.- Assays of Biocides.- Conclusions.- References.- Sedimentology And Geochemistry Of Recent Sediments.- Methods.- Results.- Sedimentology.- Geochemical Results.- Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Surficial Sediments And Suspended Particulate Matter.- Methods.- Water Column.- Surficial Sediments.- Results and Discussion.- Suspended Particulates.- Surficial Sediments.- Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Total Organic Carbon and Carbon Isotopes of Sediments.- Materials and Methods.- Preliminary Results and Predictive Model.- Results.- Total Organic Carbon.- Stable Carbon Isotopes.- Radiocarbon.- Discussion.- Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Distribution and Abundance of Macrobenthic and Meiobenthic Organisms.- Study Area.- Field Methods.- Laboratory Methods.- Data Analysis.- Results.- Abiotic Characteristics of the Study Area.- Macrobenthic Populations and Diversity.- Meiobenthic Communities.- Discussion.- Summary.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Appendices.- Observations on the Effects of Oil Field Structures on Their Biotic Environment: Platform Fouling Community.- Materials and Methods.- Results and Interpretation.- Acknowledgements.- References.- The Effect of Structures on Migratory and Local Marine Birds.- Materials and Methods.- Results.- Spring Quarter.- Summer Quarter.- Fall Quarter.- Winter Quarter.- Interpretation.- Spring Quarter.- Summer Quarter.- Fall Quarter.- Winter Quarter.- Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Bacterial Community Composition and Activity.- Materials and Methods.- Results and Discussion.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Effects on Artificial Reef and Demersal Fish and Macrocrustacean Communities.- Investigative Program.- Project Development and Approach.- Sampling Methods.- Sample and Data Analysis.- Environmental Setting and Alterations.- Setting.- Alterations.- Major Ecosystem Components and Effects.- Demersal Fishes and Macrocrustaceans.- Biofouling Community.- Structure Associated Fishes.- Recreational Fisheries.- Biological Systems Overview.- Conclusions and Recommendations.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Acute Toxicity and Aquatic Hazard Associated with Discharged Formation Water.- Methods and Materials.- Results.- Acute Toxicity of Discharged Formation Water.- Potential Aquatic Hazard Associated with Discharged Formation Water.- Discussion.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Environmental Synthesis Using an Ecosystems Model.- Construction of the Buccaneer Field Model.- The Biological Model.- The Hydrodynamics Model.- The Chemistry Model.- Ecosystem Analysis.- Results.- Biological Model.- The Chemical Model.- Discussion.- Community Structure and Function.- Fate of Hydrocarbons.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Currents and Hydrography of the Buccaneer Field and Adjacent Waters.- Methods and Materials.- Hydrographic Measurements.- Total Suspended Solids.- Current Meter Measurements.- Meteorological Measurements.- Wave Measurements.- Results and Discussion.- Hydrography.- Currents.- Total Suspended Solids.- Wind and Waves.- Conclusions.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Hydrodynamic Modeling of Discharges.- Methods.- Pollutants Distributed in the Water Column.- Floating Pollutants.- Settling Particles.- Model Output.- Results and Discussion.- Summary.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Transport and Dispersion of Potential Contaminants.- Methods and Results.- Dissolved and Suspended Materials.- Floating and Surface Film Pollutants.- Sinking Particulate Contaminants.- Resuspended Sediments.- Summary.- Acknowledgements.- References.- Epilogue.- Houston Area Oxidants Study.