Oilfield impacts on shallow groundwater and surface water quality

A. Sheridan County oilfield brine contamination of surface environments

http://sheridan.mt.nacdnet.org/oilbrine.htm

B. LANDFILLS AND WASTE DISPOSAL

Allan S. Crowe,¹ Carol J. Ptacek,¹ David L. Rudolph² and Rick McGregor³

¹Environment Canada, National Water Research Institute, Burlington, ON
²University of Waterloo, Department of Earth Sciences, Waterloo, ON
³J.R. Scientific, Suite 302, 285 Erb Street W., Waterloo, ON

 http://www.nwri.ca/threatsfull/ch12-1-e.html

Other Wastes

The petroleum industry can produce a variety of wastes. During the drilling of oil and gas wells, the sump pits typically contain brines with very high concentrations of salts and metals which leach to the underlying water table. There are hundreds of thousands of these sites located in Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. These have not emerged as a major threat because bentonite used in the drilling process will entrap the brine, and recent drilling techniques used above-ground tanks, from which the waste is disposed to landfills. Another by-product, sulphur, is extracted during the processing of natural gas and stored in large piles. Runoff which is not captured can cause elevated levels of sulphate in groundwater, however the groundwater near many of these sites typically has naturally high sulphate levels. Many wastes from the petrochemical industry are disposed through deep wells in Ontario and Alberta. Although this is generally a safe means of waste disposal, when improperly sited or constructed, extensive groundwater and surface water contamination occurs if the waste is able to migrate to the surface. Problems with corrosion of the well casing and seal in abandoned wells may produce a pathway for the upward migration of hazardous wastes and oilfield brines to shallow aquifers used as sources of drinking water. This was the case at Lambton County, Ontario, during the 1970s (Vandenberg et al. 1977). Processing plants also produce wastes at their flare pits. These wastes, which include produced water (brine), sludge, PAHs, metals, and oils, accumulate over time. Most of these pits.

C. Osage County
http://greenwood.cr.usgs.gov/energy/E&E/OF97-28/OF97-28.html

In the soil survey of Osage County, Bourlier and others (1979) identified "oil-waste land" as one of the soil map units and indicated that 1927 acres (0.1 percent) of the county is underlain by this unit.