The Toxicity of Produced Water Discharges in the Amazon Basin, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The Toxicity of Produced Water Discharges in the Amazon Basin, Ecuador Douglas Beltman, Jennifer Peers, Ann Maest, Michael Carney, Tom Hodgson Stratus Consulting Boulder, CO November 21, 2009 STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS

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Texaco’s Oilfield Operations in Ecuador � Texaco drilled and operated 356 oil wells and built 22 production stations from 1967 to 1990 � Petroecuador took over operations in 1990 � Class action lawsuit brought by residents (including indigenous groups) against Texaco for pollution of the area � Court expert recommends damages of $27 billion STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS

STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING Texaco Wells Opened and Operated by Number of wells 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 Year 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990

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Primary Sources of Contamination � 916 unlined, abandoned pits with wastes from wells (oil, drilling muds, other chemicals) Photo credit: STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS L. Dematteis

Primary Sources of Contamination � Oil spills from pipelines STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS

Primary Sources of Contamination � Oil poured on roads Photo credit: L. Dematteis, M. Pallares STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS

Primary Sources of Contamination � Air pollution from open burning of pits, flaring Photo credit: STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS M. Pallares

Primary Sources of Contamination � Discharge of produced water – Texaco audits show that they discharged ~18 billion gallons from 1972-1990 into streams and rivers Photo credit: STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS M. Pallares

Oilfield Produced Water � Produced water occurs underground with oil and has to be separated from the oil at the surface STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS

Texaco Operations Esmeraldas Crude Gas Well River Station Well Produced water Well Well Well Well Well STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

Oilfield Produced Water � U.S. regulations for onshore discharge of produced water date back to the 1920s � Onshore produced water is typically reinjected or treated to standards � Since Petroecuador took over operations in 1990, produced water is now reinjected � What was the toxicity of the water discharged by Texaco? STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS

Chloride in Produced Water 120,000 Chloride (mg/L) 100,000 80,000 60,000 Seawater = 19,350 mg/L Seawater = 19,350 mg/L Seawater = 19,350 mg/L Seawater = 19,350 mg/L 40,000 20,000 0 t N i t N o t o a t N S S a S n u W p n n n c t c c c a e e e n o e i i i a a a S a a d d u r c C i C C a C c r h h a n u n n Y a u g i u u c c d o o h i i t i a G A a f f d A A a a g n i a u u n c r h n S S A o h h i g r u o f c a i s s u C A f A g a P u h u u a S h o s h h L s g S S u u a h AGRA,1993 STATION h L S S Fugro-McClelland, 1992 STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

Chloride Toxicity to Aquatic Biota � Chloride disrupts ionoregulatory processes of freshwater biota, causing ion imbalances � No data available on toxicity to Amazon Basin aquatic biota � Natural waters in the area have low ionic strength (~3 mg/L chloride), may influence susceptibility of aquatic biota to chloride toxicity STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS

Chloride Toxicity to Aquatic Biota � Acute LC50s – Inverts: ~2,000 to 6,000 mg/L Cl – Fish: ~6,000 to 12,000 mg/L Cl � Chronic effects (growth, reproduction) at <1,000 mg/L Cl � USEPA water quality criteria (USEPA, 1988): – Acute 860 mg/L – Chronic 230 mg/L – Driven by data for invertebrates taxonomically similar to those in the area (Gallo, 2007) � Hazard Quotient (HQ) = concentration/criterion STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

Cl Acute Hazard Quotient for Produced Water 140 Cl Acute Hazard Quotient 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 t o a t N u N N o i t S t S S a W n n p n n c c t c c e a e n e e o i a a a a a i i S u d d r c C C C a C c n i a u h h Y r n n a u u i o g h c c u d i i i t o a a G d A n A a a f f g a A u u n i c h r n S S A o r i h h u g o a c f i C f u a s s A A g P u h u u S h a o s h h L s u g S S STATION u AGRA,1993 h a h S L S Fugro-McClelland, 1992 STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

Cl Chronic Hazard Quotient for Produced Water Cl Chronic Hazard Quotient 500 400 300 200 100 0 Lago Agrio N Atacapi Lago Agrio Cent Shushufindi Cent Shushufindi N Aguarico Auca Cent Guanta Sacha N Shushufindi S Auca S Cononaco Parahuacu Sacha Cent Sacha S Shushufindi SW Yuca AGRA,1993 STATION Fugro-McClelland, 1992 STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS Chloride (mg/L) 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 Stations Chloride in Streams Downstream of 5,000 0 Aguarico Atacpi Auga Auga Sur Cononaco Lago Lago Lago Norte Parahuacu Sacha Sacha Sacha Sacha Sacha Sur Sacha Sur Shushufindi Fugro-McClelland, 1992 Shushufindi Shushufindi Yuca Yuca

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Produced Water Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons 30 25 20 (mg/L) 15 10 5 0 N o i t S N S N S W a a t t o t u p n n n n c c c t c a e n e a a e i i S a e o u i a a d d r c C C a C h h C a c i Y n n n u a r i u u c c u g d o h i i t a a i f f o a a A G n g A A d n a u u c h i S S n i A o r h h f u r c g o u a i s s C A a f g A h P u u u S a s h h h AGRA,1993 o L u s S S g u h STATION a S h Fugro-McClelland, 1992 L S STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons � Most water-soluble TPH from crude oil is BTEX � From EPA AWQC database (ug/L): Benzene Toluene Ethylbenzene Xylenes Acute 5,300 17,500 32,000 2,600 Chronic 262 110 1,800 30 STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

Measured BTEX in Produced Water Mean Max ug/L in Produced Water 140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 e e s e e n n n n e e e z e z u n n l l y o e e X T B b l y h t E Data source: Villacreces, 2006 STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

Measured BTEX in Produced Water 3000 Benzene Toluene Ethylbenzene Xylenes 2500 Concentration (ug/L) 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Sacha Central Shushufindi N Shushufindi S Data source: Jocknick et al., 1994 STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

BTEX Chronic HQ for Toxicity to Aquatic Biota Benzene Toluene Ethylbenzene Xylenes 25 20 Chronic HQ 15 10 5 0 Sacha Central Shushufindi N Shushufindi S Data source: Jocknick et al., 1994 STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS

Toxicity to Humans BTEX concentrations in produced waters Safe Drinking Water Act MCL (mg/L) Mean Range (mg/L) (mg/L) 18.9 − 36.4 Benzene 25.1 0.005 31.0 − 61.3 Toluene 40.7 1.0 1.8 − 19.9 − Ethylbenzene 4.7 8.8 − 78.9 10 a p-, m-xylene 30.6 3.7 − 40.8 10 a o-xylene 9.5 a. Maximum contaminant level for total xylenes. Sources: Villacreces Carvajal, 2006, Table 2; U.S. EPA, 2007. Photo credit: STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS STRATUS M. Pallares

Sediment Contamination � Sediments of rivers and streams downstream of oil operations, including production stations, are contaminated with oil � Photoactivated toxicity of PAHs in sediment, water column Photo credit: STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS L. Dematteis

Conclusions � Texaco discharged 18 billion gallons of produced water directly into rainforest streams and rivers used by local people � The produced water was acutely toxic to fish and invertebrates – Invertebrates more sensitive – Exposed biota may be susceptible to chloride toxicity � The produced water contained benzene at concentrations many times higher than EPA drinking water standard Photo credit: STRATUS STRATUS CONSULTING STRATUS STRATUS L. Dematteis