Tolerance to long-term exposure of suspended benthic sediments and drill cuttings in the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa

Ecological Role of Submarine Canyons and Need for Canyon Conservation: A Review

“…Thus, it is expected that similar or even greater effects in canyons because of the presence of VMEs (e.g., coral reefs) and potentially restricted movement of pollutants due to current regimes in canyons. Experimental and monitoring studies based on the exposure of L. pertusa to drill cuttings from oil drilling activities on the Norwegian continental shelf indicate that corals polyps tolerate well the enhanced particle deposition rates and suspended matter concentrations (Allers et al, 2013;Larsson et al, 2013;Purser, 2015). However, a small pilot experiment indicated that coral larvae might be particularly vulnerable to high particle concentrations .…”

Oil pollution in the North Sea: the impact of governance measures on oil pollution over several decades

“…Since 1996, there have been no discharges of oil-mudcontaminated cuttings (OSPAR Commission, 2001a), and since 2004, virtually no OPFs and cuttings have been discharged in the North Sea region (OSPAR Commission, 2012). However, research into impacts on cold-water coral colonies has shown that cuttings can have a major impact on colony size and mortality (Gass & Roberts 2006;Allers et al, 2013;Larsson et al, 2013), while drilling activities more generally can have an impact on the density of motile organisms close to drilling platforms (Jones et al, 2012).…”

“…Colonies of the cold-water corals, Lophelia pertusa, have been identified around many oil and gas platforms in the northern North Sea (Gass & Roberts, 2006;Purser & Thomsen, 2012), and there is evidence to suggest that coverage of coral colonies by sediments, including cuttings from oil platforms, is sufficient to damage or even kill such colonies, despite their resilience to short-term sedimentation events (e.g. Allers et al, 2013;Larsson et al, 2013).…”

Towards enhancing sustainable reuse of pre-treated drill cuttings for construction purposes by near-infrared analysis: A review

“…The ecological effects of drill cuttings when disposed of on land or sea without prior treatment have been widely documented in the open access literature (Ellis et al, 2012;Zamora-Ledezma and García, 2013;Larsson et al, 2013;Durgut et al, 2015;Nilssen et al, 2015). In a recent review, Ellis et al (2012) revealed a loss of benthic biodiversity and suspension-feeding communities due to discharge of drilling waste from oil and gas platforms.…”

“…Zamora- Ledezma and García (2013) reported that drill cuttings are extremely toxic for some species of tropical grasses including Urochloa decumbens and Urochloa maxima. There have also been reported lower growth rates of cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa when exposed to water-based drill cuttings for 12 weeks (Larsson et al, 2013). Recently, while assessing the potential impact of water-based drill cuttings on two deepwater calcareous red algae, namely; Mesophyllum engelhartii and Lithothamnion sp., Nilssen et al (2015) observed an occasional risk for severe impact on the calcareous algae.…”