Pollutant migration behavior in slurry ponds at Ordos Basin gas well sites

Abstract

With an acceleration in the rate of gas exploration in Ordos Basin, more and more waste drilling mud has been discharged. After a series of treatment, the waste mud had been buried in some slurry ponds. So a significant number of ponds are scattered in the basin, which give more harm to the fragile ecological environment. But until now, there is little research focusing on real environmental effects of pollutants in slurry ponds. This research chose five slurry ponds used in succession during 2005 and 2009 as targets. The migration behavior of organics, oil and sulfide was studied, and their possible effects on shallow groundwater were forecasted. The results showed that the order of these three pollutants' effects on environment was sulfide>oil>organics. According to the migration behavior of mentioned pollutants, it came to conclusion that the sulfide and oil in the slurry ponds used over two years should have brought much influence on shallow groundwater.