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EPA issues geotechnical discharge permit
The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a new general permit for wastewater discharges from geotechnical survey operations and related activities in federal waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, the agency said Jan. 29. The permit authorizes 12 types of wastewater discharge from oil and gas geotechnical surveys and related activities. EPA says that effluent limitations and requirements specified in the permit will ensure that discharges do not unreasonably degrade the marine environment.
Oil and gas companies typically conduct geotechnical surveys over offshore oil prospects and along potential subsea pipeline routes to determine the nature of the seafloor. A survey generally involves shallow rotary drilling, with the use of water-based drilling fluids. Fluid and rock cuttings from the drilling generally flow directly to the seafloor as they exit the borehole. “Related activities” covered by the new permit consist of operations such as the testing of seafloor equipment and the testing of trenching technologies.
Many comments After EPA first released a draft version of its proposed new permit in November 2013, the large number of comments on the permit triggered a redraft and some subsequent extensions to the public comment period.
The new permit goes into effect on March 2 and expires on March 1, 2020, EPA says.
In parallel with the EPA, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has been developing a similar general permit for the discharge of waste from geotechnical survey operations in state waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. On Feb. 4 Wade Strickland, program manager for the Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, told Petroleum News that the state anticipates issuing its general permit with the next two to three weeks.
Advance notification Under the terms of the EPA permit, it is legal to discharge waste into the ocean during a geotechnical survey, provided that the waste only contains permitted materials up to permitted quantities, and provided that the operator of the survey provides advance notification to the EPA of the planned operation and the nature of the anticipated discharges from the operation. The operator must also submit a best management practices plan, spelling out how the operator will minimize and control the discharge of pollutants into the sea.
The discharges that the permit covers include water-based drilling fluids and drill cuttings; deck drainage; sanitary waste; bilge water; uncontaminated ballast water; and cement slurry.
- Alan Bailey
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