Offshore Oil And Gas Environmental Effects Monitoring

Offshore oil and gas drilling operations take place in some of the world's most biologically productive oceanic waters. An ongoing concern related to the development of this industry is that exposure to contaminants from waste discharges may cause ill effects on organisms and their habitat. Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) programs are undertaken to verify environmental impact assessment predictions, to detect any unforeseen effects, and to help identify cause-effect relationships. EEM has been carried out worldwide for many offshore developments, and much has been learned about the fate of drilling and production contaminants and their biological effects. EEM programs have rapidly evolved in response to new knowledge on the transport, fate, and effects of potential contaminants; changes in regulatory requirements; and improved impact assessment technologies and statistical approaches for data interpretation. In May 2003, an international group of scientists, environmental managers, and industry representatives shared their expertise and new knowledge at the Offshore Oil and Gas Environmental Effects Monitoring Workshop. The participants reviewed the status of current offshore oil and gas EEM programs and identified future research needs to advance our understanding of the impacts of the offshore oil and gas industry. This book represents a selected number of peer-reviewed papers from workshop participants, covering a range of topics including regional experience from past and ongoing EEM programs; environmental management issues such as risk assessment and decision-making processes; the development of predictive risk assessment models; and new approaches and technologies formonitoring potential alterations in benthic, pelagic, and tropospheric ecosystem components. This book will be of use to scientists, environmental managers, regulators, and industry representatives, as well as members of the general public wishing to improve their understanding on the application of offshore oil and gas EEM programs for the protection of our ocean environment and its resources.

The main goal of this study was to develop a strategy for monitoring environmental effects at a single exploratory offshore well on the east coast. Work carried out in the study consisted of consultations with scientists, regulators, & stakeholders; reviews of regulatory regimes; toxicity results relevant to exploratory activities; and development of a decision tree for determining when & how to conduct environmental effects monitoring (EEM). The study report first presents background on potential issues related to the environmental impacts of exploratory drilling, the characteristics of typical exploratory drill rigs & drilling muds, the regulatory regime in Canada & elsewhere, and the biological & other effects of drilling. It then summarizes EEM programs & their results for exploratory wells on the Scotian Shelf & Grand Banks; outlines EEM issues of concern for the Newfoundland & Nova Scotia offshore, and discusses issue similarities & differences between the two areas; and draws brief conclusions on the application of production EEM experience to exploratory drilling EEM. Finally, an EEM decision process based on three scenarios appropriate to the east coast is presented, along with recommended study designs to address the scenarios.

Environmental effects monitoring strategies and programs have been conducted in conjunction with a number of offshore hydrocarbon developments in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea during the past decade. The recent success of exploratory drilling programs off the east coast of Canada has provided impetus for the development of environmental effects monitoring strategies and programs that consider both the environmental conditions that exist in this region and the experience gained from past monitoring efforts in other parts of the world

This publication summarizes proceedings of a workshop initiated in response to recommendations from the 1997 Terra Nova Environmental Assessment Panel on the need to address cumulative effects of offshore oil & gas development. Topics of presentations include the east coast offshore context of hydrocarbon development, prediction & verification of offshore oil & gas effects, cumulative effects assessment & monitoring approaches, lessons from cumulative effects assessment & monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea, designing cumulative effects monitoring programs, the potential for cumulative effects off the east coast, contributors to offshore cumulative effects, how cumulative effects should be monitored, and who should do the assessment & monitoring. The appendix includes an excerpt from the Terra Nova Panel report.

Long-term Environmental Effects of Offshore Oil and Gas Development contains 14 chapters by different authors which focus on the US.