Restoration of Coastal Wetlands Using Treated Drill Cuttings

Abstract

Abstract One of the most serious environmental problems facing coastal Louisiana is the loss of wetlands. The oil and gas industry has contributed to erosion of coastal wetlands through extensive dredging of canals for drilling and production and to allow boat access to the Gulf of Mexico. This paper describes an innovative approach to restoring some of those wetlands using treated drill cuttings, a waste material generated in the same wetlands areas, as a substrate for vegetation. Rather than disposing of drill cuttings as a waste material, they can be reused for beneficial environmental restoration. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) provided funding to develop and pursue this pollution prevention/wetlands restoration strategy. Researchers at Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) conducted laboratory mesocosm studies to determine whether treated drill cuttings would support growth of wetlands vegetation. SLU grew wetlands vegetation in 200- liter containers under four different hydrological regimes and found that treated cuttings allowed growth of wetlands vegetation to an extent comparable to that of dredged materials, another substrate used in wetlands restoration projects. A second set of mesocosm studies will begin in 2000 to better refine the treatment of cuttings to make them more suitable as a substrate. A team of representatives from DOE, Argonne National Laboratory, SLU, an oil field waste treatment company, and an independent oil and gas operator has worked for several years to gain regulatory approval for the project and to identify sites that would be good candidates for a demonstration of the approach. This paper describes the regulatory approaches pursued by the team, the difficulties experienced, and the lessons learned to date.