Investigations

Environmental Impacts Associated with Disposal of Saline Water Produced During Petroleum Production - Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research Project

Salt scar near Lake Skiatook, Oklahoma, caused bye produced water disposal.

Pumping oil and gas out of the ground also produces large volumes of water with undesirable quality known as produced water. Produced water commonly contains large amounts of dissolved salts, hydrocarbons, trace metals, and radionuclides. The United States produces 20 to 30 billion barrels of produced water every year. Much of the produced water is recycled by injecting it into the subsurface to maintain the pressure of oil reservoirs, which enhances oil recovery. An estimated 35 percent of produced water requires disposal

Abandoned oil well at Lake Skiatook, Oklahoma.

because it cannot be recycled. The most common methods of disposal are injecting it into the subsurface and evaporating it in disposal ponds. Prior to environmental regulations in the 1970s, produced water was disposed of by whatever was the most economical method. This sometimes included intentionally discharging the water on the ground, which could cause salt scars and surface- and ground-water contamination. These past practices and current accidental releases of produced water are national issues that concern managers of Native American, Federal, and State lands, as well as oil and gas producers, mineral rights and lease owners, State and Federal regulators, and land owners. A growing concern facing land managers is the potential use of land for farming, housing, or other uses where oil and gas production is no longer active but may have left a legacy of undesirable environmental effects. Scientific studies are needed to evaluate the long-term and short-term effects of the disposal of produced water on soil, ground water, and streams, and the natural processes that may mitigate the effects.

To address these concerns the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) initiated a multidisciplinary investigation to determine the fate and effects of the disposal of produced water on the near-surface environment. This investigation is a joint project of the USGS's Toxic Substances Hydrology Program and the Energy Resources Program, along with their partners. Field studies are being conducted at Skiatook Lake in the southeastern part of the Osage Indian Reservation in northeastern Oklahoma. Results from this investigation will help provide some of the information environmental officials, land managers, petroleum companies, and land owners need to assess human and ecosystem impacts and to develop risk-based corrective actions to clean up contamination from produced water.

Related Headlines (back to top)

• USGS Scientists Contribute to the Landmark “Treatise on Geochemistry”
• Improving Cleanup of Contamination from Oil and Gas Production

More Information

• Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research Project Home Page -- The Osage-Skiatook research team maintains its own home page that contains additional information about the project.
• Project Bibliography
• Abstracts from Selected Meetings/Conferences
• Location Maps
• USGS Energy Resources Program -- Produced Waters Database
  — The database includes geochemical data from Osage County, OK
• Naturally Occurring Radioactive Minerals (NORM) in Produced Water and Oil-Field Equipment -- An Issue for the Energy Industry, U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 0142-99
• USGS Research on Saline Waters Co-Produced With Energy Resources, U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS-003-97
• For more information please contact Marvin Abbott (USGS, Oklahoma District, Oklahoma City, OK, )

Partners and Collaborators

Osage Nation Bureau of Indian Affairs U.S. Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) Environmental Sciences Division, Las Vegas, NV U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL), Subsurface Protection and Remediation Division (Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory), Ada, OK Department of Energy's National Petroleum Technology Office Bureau of Reclamation

University of Oklahoma University of Tulsa Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Michigan Department of Community Health Kansas Department of Health and Environment Dow Chemical Company River Gas Company

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