Fate and Effects of a Spill of Synthetic-Based Drilling Fluid

at Mississippi Canyon Block 778

OCS Report MMS 2004-039

 The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new report, Fate and Effects of a Spill of Synthetic-Based Drilling Fluid at Mississippi Canyon Block 778.

This descriptive report records the synthetic-based fluid spill that occurred in May 2003 some 60 miles off the coast of Louisiana in Mississippi Canyon Block 778 (MC 778) as the result of a riser break.  The report describes the spilled material, the physical oceanography at the time of the spill, and the environmental effects of the spill.

On the basis of the information available, the study concludes that the released synthetic-based fluid dispersed into the water, settled to the seafloor, and biodegraded.  No chemosynthetic communities exist close enough to the release to have been impacted.  The less motile animals within the nearby benthic community could have been smothered.  Impacts to fish resources and commercial fisheries would be negligible because of their mobility, the dispersion of the synthetic-based fluid, and the absence of toxicity of the released synthetic-based fluid.  The Loop Current did not directly affect the MC 778 drill site the day of the spill event.

You can obtain copies of the report from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at no charge by referencing OCS Report MMS 2004-039.  Here is the address.