Effects of Produced Water on Settlement of Larvae: Field Tests using Red Abalone

Abstract

Field studies of biological effects arising from the chronic discharge of produced water into the marine environment have emphasized potential impacts to the benthos, and have not addressed directly possible effects on organisms in the water column (Neff, 1987; Payne et al., 1987; Spies, 1987). In part this arises because harmful components of produced water, such as petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals, have relatively short residence times in the water column (e.g. Armstrong et al., 1979; Grahl-Nielsen et al., 1979), but can accumulate in surficial sediments near the point of discharge (e.g. Armstrong et al., 1979; Wheeler et al., 1980; Mittleditch, 1981a). Water soluble contaminants are thought to be diluted rapidly to levels well below those suspected to cause meaningful biological responses based on acute (lethal) laboratory tests (e.g. Montalvo and Brady, 1979; Middleditch, 1981b, 1984; Rose and Ward, 1981; Payne et al., 1987), and produced water typically is only mildly toxic (Neff, 1987). If effects of produced water on planktonic forms occur anywhere, they are thought to be most likely in embayments or other shallow, low-energy environments where the turnover rate of the receiving water is low relative to the discharge volume (e.g. Armstrong et al., 1979; Neff, 1987; Payne et al., 1987; Spies, 1987). However, limited data on petroleum hydrocarbon contamination suggest that effects on planktonic organisms can occur in open waters (e.g. Howarth 1989), although there have not been explicit field evaluations for discharges of produced water (Neff, 1987).