Special Edition of "Environmental Geosciences" Explores Impacts of Oil and Gas Production on the Environment

The U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency co-sponsored a special edition of "Environmental Geosciences" entitled "Environmental Issues of Petroleum Exploration and Production." The special edition presents research on local impacts to soils, streams, ground water, and ecosystems from the exploration for and production of petroleum in the United States. USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program contributions to the special edition include:

• Results of investigations at the Osage–Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research (OSPER) Site on the fate of produced saline water disposed of on-site at an oil-production field that was for the most part depleted during the 1930’s.
• Results of investigations at the Bemidji Crude Oil Spill Research Site, Minnesota, on how subsurface oil degradation rates are highly variable and strongly influenced by small-scale variations in hydrologic and geochemical conditions.

The information presented in the special edition is of interest to petroleum producers, land owners, land-use planners, and state and federal regulators who are faced with the effects of millions of oil and gas wells across the United States.

Editors

Yousif K. Kharaka, U.S. Geological Survey,
Nancy S. Dorsey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Table of Contents

Environmental Issues of Petroleum Exploration and Production: Environmental Geosciences, v. 12, no. 2, June 2005

• Environmental Issues of Petroleum Exploration and Production: Introduction, by Yousif K. Kharaka (USGS) and Nancy S. Dorsey
• Oil Field-Produced Water Discharges into Wetlands: Benefits and Risks to Wildlife by Pedro Ramirez Jr.
• Environmental Impacts of Oil Production on Soil, Bedrock, and Vegetation at the U.S. Geological Survey Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research Site A, Osage County, Oklahoma by James K. Otton (USGS), Robert A. Zielinski (USGS), Bruce D. Smith (USGS), Marvin M. Abbott (USGS), and Bobby D. Keeland (USGS)
• Environmental Releases from Exploration and Production Operations in Oklahoma: Type, Volume, Causes, and Prevention by J. Berton Fisher and Kerry L. Sublette
• Remediation of Oil-Field Brine-Impacted Soil Using a Subsurface Drainage System and Hay by Thomas M. Harris, J. Bryan Tapp, and Kerry L. Sublette
• Remediation of a Spill of Crude Oil and Brine Without Gypsum by Kerry L. Sublette, Aditya Moralwar, Laura Ford, Kathleen Duncan, Greg Thoma, and Josh Brokaw
• Impacts of Petroleum Production on Ground and Surface Waters: Results from the Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research A Site, Osage County, Oklahoma by Yousif K. Kharaka (USGS), James J. Thordsen (USGS), Evangelos Kakouros (USGS), and William N. Herkelrath (USGS)
• Progression of Methanogenic Degradation of Crude Oil in the Subsurface by Barbara A. Bekins (USGS), Frances D. Hostettler (USGS), William N. Herkelrath (USGS), Geoffrey N. Delin (USGS), Ean Warren (USGS), and Hedeff I. Essaid (USGS)

More Information

• Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research Project, Oklahoma
• Improving Cleanup of Contamination from Oil and Gas Production
• Oil Wells Produce More Than Just Oil -- Environmental Impact of Produced Water
• Special Session on ‘‘Exploration and Production Environmental Issues and Best Management Practices: Impacts on Water, Soils, and Ecosystems,’’ at the Annual American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Convention in Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004 -- Selected papers presented at the session formed the basis for the papers in the special edition of Environmental Geosciences
• Crude Oil Contamination in the Shallow Subsurface, Bemidji, Minnesota

Related Headlines

• USGS Science Featured in a Special Issue of Applied Geochemistry on Contamination from Oil Production
• Ground-Water Recharge Affects Fate of Petroleum Contaminant Plumes
• Predicting Plume Growth Rates - A Simple Method for Calculating Growth Rates of Petroleum Plumes
• Special Edition of "Environmental Geosciences" Explores Impacts of Oil and Gas Production on the Environment
• The Changing Face of Microbial Communities in Contaminant Plumes
• USGS Scientists Contribute to the Landmark " Treatise on Geochemistry "
• Improving Clean Up of Contamination from Oil and Gas Production
• A Unique Approach to Evaluating Natural Attenuation is Applied Worldwide
• Using Oxygen to Clean Up Ground-Water Contamination
• MTBE Can Degrade Naturally Without Oxygen
• How Do You Clean Up Gasoline Spills Naturally?
• Relying on Nature to Clean Up Contaminated Ground Water
• MTBE Biodegrades Naturally in Stream Sediments
• Natural Attenuation for Groundwater Remediation
• Natural Attenuation of MTBE at Laurel Bay, South Carolina

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