An approach to assess potential environmental mercury release, food web bioaccumulation, and human dietary methylmercury uptake from decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure

Hellfeld, Rebecca von; Gade, Christoph; Koppel, Darren J.; Walters, William; Kho, Fenny; Hastings, Astley

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131298

Cited by 7 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…It is observed that based on the potential environmental impacts, the leave-in-situ method is the most suitable option for decommissioning offshore oil and gas platforms. This is further supported by the study carried out by [63] in which Multicriteria Approval (MA) for evaluating and comparing alternative decommissioning options across key selection criteria such as environmental, financial, socioeconomic, and health and safety were considered. [64] also demonstrated that using multicriteria decision analysis can be considered an adequate model for choosing options for decommissioning oil and gas assets, and leave in-situ is one of the most preferable options for decommissioning where a qualitative approach was applied.…”

Section: Potential Economic Impactmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Potential environmental impacts were analyzed using high = 3, medium = 2 and low = 1, neutral = 0, and positive impact were indicated by a "+" and negative impact was indicated by a "−" sign and compared among decommissioning options as shown in Table 5. Effective multicriteria analyses are, however, not possible due to the lack of quantitative data on the probable inventory of residual contaminants at the point of decommissioning (i.e., post-cleaning) and the likely environmental repercussions [61,63]. The matrix analysis using the scoring method indicates that the leave in situ is the best option for decommissioning.…”

Section: Potential Economic Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Assessment of Environmental Impact on Offshore Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Pipelines

et al. 2023

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There has been a steady growth in the length of pipelines over the past 45 years, with over 6000 operating platforms extracting oil. Several facilities would reach their operational life, which can no longer be economically viable for their production and will eventually undergo the decommissioning procedure. Almost 3000 petroleum industries will likely be decommissioned worldwide in the next 17 years. By 2030, the total cost of decommissioning globally amounted to about USD 104.5 billion. The choice to decommission the offshore oil and gas sector is considered complicated and crucial as it must evaluate numerous variables such as cost, health and safety, and environmental consequences. This review paper aims to assess the decommissioning activity, specifically on pipelines in the oil and gas industry. The purpose of this study is to understand and evaluate significant environmental impacts associated with decommissioning of oil pipelines and to propose mitigation measures to address the challenges of decommissioning. Waste disposal, a threat to biodiversity and air pollution, is a major environmental concern in decommissioning oil and gas pipelines. Among the decommissioning measures, leave in-situ has the lowest environmental impact while repurposing and recycling, with the application of environmental impact qualitatively and quantitatively by integrating 3D information models, mathematical models embedded in hydrodynamic models look promising for decommissioning.

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Section: Potential Economic Impactmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Potential Economic Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of Environmental Impact on Offshore Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Pipelines

et al. 2023

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“…To calibrate the model, an initial environmental concentration was derived from published data, and separate model runs were initiated to incorporate the environmental mercury into the different species. This was done following the method outlined in a recent publication on a hypothetical foodweb [45]. Direct mercury uptake was only derived for photosynthetic plankton groups, copepods and euphausiids, as the literature suggests most uptake for other marine organisms is diet-based [53][54][55][56]; see the electronic supplementary material, S2, for details.…”

Section: Model Calibrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…'worst case scenario') example that may not be applicable to every ecosystem. Moreover, all applied simplifications follow the method initially outlined in von Hellfeld et al [45]. To determine the partitioning of a contaminant between the water and sediment/particulate compartment, a partitioning coefficient (K d value) can be employed [72].…”

Section: Model Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The research aims to apply a previously outlined method [ 45 ] for mercury food web bioaccumulation modelling to the North Sea considering different exposure scenarios. An existing eEcopath with an eEcosim model of the North Sea was used [ 46 ], with varied mercury influx into the model environment, based on different decommissioning scenarios for the North Sea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An approach to assessing subsea pipeline-associated mercury release into the North Sea and its potential environmental and human health impact

von Hellfeld,

Hastings

2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Mercury is a naturally occurring heavy metal that has also been associated with anthropogenic sources such as cement production or hydrocarbon extraction. Mercury is a contaminant of concern as it can have a significant negative impact on organismal health when ingested. In aquatic environments, it bioaccumulates up the foodweb, where it then has the potential to impact human health. With the offshore hydrocarbon platforms in the North Sea nearing decommissioning, they must be assessed as a potential source for the environmental release of mercury. International treaties govern the handling of materials placed in the ocean. Studies have assessed the ecologic and economic benefits of (partial) in situ abandonment of the infrastructure as artificial reefs. This can be applied to pipelines after substantial cleaning to remove mercury accumulation from the inner surface. This work outlines the application of an approach to modelling marine mercury bioaccumulation for decommissioning scenarios in the North Sea. Here, in situ decommissioning of cleaned pipelines was unlikely to have a negative impact on the North Sea food web or human health. However, significant knowledge gaps have been determined, which must be addressed before all negative impacts on ecosystems and organismal health can be excluded.

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Mercury fingerprint: A comparative evaluation of lability in North Sea drill cuttings

Gade,

von Hellfeld,

Mbadugha

et al. 2024

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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An approach to assess potential environmental mercury release, food web bioaccumulation, and human dietary methylmercury uptake from decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure

Cited by 7 publications

References 77 publications

An Assessment of Environmental Impact on Offshore Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Pipelines

An Assessment of Environmental Impact on Offshore Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Pipelines

An approach to assessing subsea pipeline-associated mercury release into the North Sea and its potential environmental and human health impact

Mercury fingerprint: A comparative evaluation of lability in North Sea drill cuttings

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