Purpose of Review

Recent technological progresses have unlocked tremendous shale energy resources, leading to increased production of oil and gas and a variety of new environmental pollution issues in the United States. One such example is management of produced waters, which are often disposed of via deep well injection. Produced water injection has been linked to induced seismicity. Thus, there are strong incentives for alternative management strategies that come with new, uncertain environmental risks. This paper summarizes studies of sediment pollution due to oil and gas production. The goal is to highlight potential environmental risks associated with produced water management, including long-term contamination of sediments.

Recent Findings

Sediment contaminants from produced waters include organic and inorganic toxic compounds. Three different indicators have been developed for sediment pollution: the geoaccumulation index, pollution load index, and the enrichment factor. The main pollutants in sediments resulting from oil and gas production are heavy metals, salts, naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs), oil and grease (O&G), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX), total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs). These pollutants reach sediments and water resources via pipeline leaks, truck spills, improper waste disposal, and underground injection. Methods to decrease contaminant risks in sediments include surface capping, bioremediation, and phytoremediation.

Summary

The shale oil and gas boom has exacerbated produced water management issues. As states consider regulation of treated produced waters, there is a strong need to consider potential contaminants of concern. Several case studies from the U.S., Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America were used to assess levels of contamination around the world’s sediments in regions with high levels of oil and gas activity. Appropriate management of residual pollution from oil and gas operations should consider the nature of contaminants and sediments, the routes of contamination, the levels of contamination, the effect of contaminants on the sites, and methods for contaminant cleanup.

中文翻译：

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油气生产对沉积物中污染物水平的影响

审查目的

最近的技术进步已经释放了巨大的页岩能源资源，导致美国增加了石油和天然气的产量以及各种新的环境污染问题。这样的一个例子是对采出水的管理，这些采出水通常是通过深井注水处理的。采出水与地震活动有关。因此，强烈的动机是要选择带有新的，不确定的环境风险的替代管理策略。本文总结了由于油气生产而造成的沉积物污染的研究。目的是强调与采出水管理相关的潜在环境风险，包括对沉积物的长期污染。

最近的发现

采出水中的沉积物污染物包括有机和无机有毒化合物。已经为沉积物污染制定了三个不同的指标：地质累积指数，污染负荷指数和富集因子。油气生产产生的沉积物中的主要污染物为重金属，盐，天然放射性物质（NORM），油脂（O＆G），苯，甲苯，乙苯和二甲苯（BTEX），总石油烃（TPH），和多环芳烃（PAHs）。这些污染物通过管道泄漏，卡车泄漏，废物处理不当和地下注入等途径到达沉积物和水资源。减少沉积物中污染物风险的方法包括表面覆盖，生物修复和植物修复。

概要

页岩油气繁荣加剧了采出水管理问题。当各州考虑对经处理的采出水进行监管时，非常需要考虑潜在的令人关注的污染物。来自美国，中东，非洲，亚洲和南美的一些案例研究被用来评估油气活动水平高的地区的世界沉积物周围的污染水平。适当地管理油气作业产生的残留污染，应考虑污染物和沉积物的性质，污染的途径，污染的程度，污染物对现场的影响以及污染物的清除方法。