Fate and effects of produced water discharges in coastal Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, USA

Abstract

From the Summary: “The distance to which sediment contamination related to a produced water discharge has been identified in the receiving environment was found in our present study to be greater than for any studies to date. The zone of sediment contamination extends to greater distances where the volume of discharge is large, the loadings of petrogenic-origin hydrocarbons are high, and the receiving environment is characterized by restricted water exchange...Regardless of hydrographic regime in a receiving environment, some level of sediment contamination is evident at most of the locations studied…..but benthic infaunal community impacts (usually identified as reductions in number or species or individuals) are not always evident or may be localized. Benthic fauna are severely reduced or absent where the thereshold of certain chemical contaminants (such as volatile hydrocarbons and alkylated PAHs) are exceeded…”