U.S. Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Technical Announcement

Emissions Inventories of OCS Production and Development Activities in the Gulf of Mexico, Final Report

OCS Study MMS 2002-073

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Emissions Inventories of OCS Production and Development Activities in the Gulf of Mexico, Final Report.

This project provided technical support to the MMS for the development of an inventory of current OCS activities that generate air pollutant emissions in a region with a 100-kilometer radius about the Breton National Wildlife Area (BNWA).  The air pollutants inventoried in this project include carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), sulfur oxides (SO_x) total suspended particulates (TSP), particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM₁₀), particulate matter less than 2.5 microns (PM_2.5), total hydrocarbons (THC), and volatile organic compounds (VOC).  This current inventory was used to back cast emissions estimates for the years 1977 and 1988.  These years are defined as the base years for determining compliance with the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) air quality regulations, which are pertinent to selected geographical areas designated to enhance air quality protection under the Clean Air Act.  These special geographical areas, of which BNWA is one, are termed Federal Class I Air Quality Areas.

This project was initiated with a survey of monthly activity information (e.g., fuel consumption) regarding the operation of equipment and processes on approximately 510 platforms (i.e., facilities) within the 100-kilometer radius of BNWA.  The facility operators were provided with specialized computer software (i.e., the Breton Offshore Activities Data System (BOADS)) for compiling and storing the month activity data.  The BOADS software incorporates automated quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) checks including (1) parameter ranges and magnitudes by source categories and (2) data formats and units to ensure data integrity.  In addition to the BOADS software, the project included the development and technology transfer of a relational Oracle-based, data-based management system (DBMS).  The DBMS provides MMS with the capability to readily access the monthly activity information, as well as the resulting pollutant emissions.  The DBMS features include the ability to update a facility’s activity data, rapidly access a variety of data types, automatically generate data reports, and develop user specified data queries.  Similar to the BOADS QA/QC checks, the DBMS also computes and provides error warnings, range checks, and outlier flags.

This report is available only in compact disc format.  The discs are available from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at a charge of $15.00 by referencing OCS Study MMS 2002-073.  You will be able to obtain this report also from the National Technical Information Service in the near future.  Here are the addresses.  You may also inspect copies at selected Federal Depository Libraries.

MMS is the Federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian leases.  These revenues totaled over $6 billion in 2002 and nearly $127 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.

-MMS-GOM-
MMS's Website Address: http://www.mms.gov

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