Evaluation of Environmental Impacts of Outer Continental Shelf Petroleum Development in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska

摘要

The scope of this report is to: describe the development of petroleum reserves on the Oregon, Washington, and Alaskan outer continental shelves (OCS); characterize the technology applicable to OCS development; identify the routine discharges to the marine and estuarine environment resulting from the petroleum resource development of the OCS; and discuss any possible ecological impact from these routine discharges. Components of the routine discharges to the marine environment from OCS development include metals in produced water, drilling muds, and borehole cuttings and chemicals in drilling mud. Hydrocarbons and oils are discharged to the oceans from ships' bilges and produced water and to the atmosphere as combustion products from ships and platform power generation sources and as evaporation products from offshore and land-based storage tanks. The number of discharged species is large and they occur as dissolved species, or suspended or settleable solids. Offshore technologies do exist to assure that the concentrations of discharged pollutants to the oceans and atmosphere are kept to a level that complies to regulatory limits. Where sufficient effluent data exist, it is concluded that long-term ecological effects from routine discharges have not been detected and appear not to occur. However, no environmental data gathered to date are sensitive enough to test a scientific hypothesis of the nature or magnitude of impact that would occur to a site-specific population or ecosystem from this type of release. Short-term effects are localized and short-lived and are therefore ecologically insignificant. (ERA citation 04:050590)