Long-Term Effects of Contaminants from OCS Produced-Water Discharges

Long-Term Effects of Contaminants from OCS Produced-Water Discharges
at Pelican Island Facility, Louisiana

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Long-Term Effects of Contaminants from OCS Produced-Water Discharges at Pelican Island Facility, Louisiana. The MMS undertook this project to obtain useful information for determining the impact of discharges containing produced-waters generated from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). This report provides information about the fate and effects of produced-water discharges on sediment contamination, benthic communities, and bioaccumulation potential. The receiving environment for a produced-water discharge at Pelican Island was initially examined in 1989 and again in this present study.

This study examined the temporal differences in the fate of the produced-water contaminant accumulation, persistence and effects on the macrofauna; characterized the sediments and macroinfaunal communities nine years after cessation of the effluent; and compared the two-year, post-discharge conditions with the nine-year, post-discharge conditions. The surficial sediment contamination and effects seen at the two-year, post-discharge conditions were not apparent at the nine-year, post-discharge conditions. There were still contaminants, including weathered petroleum source hydrocarbons and creosote, accumulated in higher concentrations vertically in the sediments (up to 10 cm).

For more information about the Environmental Studies Program, contact the Environmental Sciences Section (MS 5430), 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394, telephone (504) 736-2789.

Copies of the report can be obtained from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at a charge of $5.00 by referencing OCS Study MMS 98-0039. This report will also be available from the National Technical Information Service in the near future. These addresses are provided below. Copies are also available for inspection at selected Federal Depository Libraries.

Minerals Management Service
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region
Public Information Office (MS 5034)
1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard
New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394
Telephone requests may be placed at
(504) 736-2519 or 1-800-200-GULF
or FAX: (504) 736-2620
INTERNET: http://www.mms.gov/

U.S. Department of Commerce
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, Virginia 22161
(703) 487-4650 or FAX: (703) 321-8547
Rush Orders: 1-800-336-4700

MMS is the Federal agency that manages the Nation's natural gas, oil, and other mineral resources on the OCS; and collects, accounts for, and last year disbursed about $6 billion in revenues from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands.

MMS Internet website address: http://www.mms.gov/
24 hour Fax-on-Demand Service: (202) 219-1703

This page is maintained by Jacklyn Johnston
Last updated on Wednesday, March 31, 1999.

FOR RELEASE:	January 1999