Abstract

In the U. S., there is a bill before the Senate that would establish emergency reserves of petroleum to sustain the country for at least 90 days. Storage of such reserves would be costly. If salt domes were leached to provide capacity for stoning petroleum for a 90-day requirement, each facility would be about 8 million dollars, pipelines another 5 million, and the cost of the oil unknown. The arrival of large tankers involves the construction of superports to accommodate them. The proposed Texas superport will include a tank farm that will cover 100 acres. The site of the proposed superport in Louisiana is in the middle of a large field of salt domes. The import situation is discussed and recommendations to alleviate the worsening situation are listed. (MCW) Document type: Report

Abstract

On March 10, 1980, the Department of Energy's Strategic Petroleum Reserve Program began leaching the Bryan Mound salt dome and discharging the resulting brine into the coastal waters off Freeport, Texas. During the months of March and April, a team of scientists and engineers from Texas A and M University conducted an intensive environmental study of the area surrounding the diffuser site. A pipeline has been laid from the Bryan Mound site to a location 12.5 statute miles (20 km) offshore. The last 3060 ft (933 m) of this pipeline is a 52-port diffuser through which brine can be discharged at a maximum rate of 680,000 barrels per day. Initially, 16 ports were open which permitted a maximum discharge rate of 350,000 barrels per day and a continuous brine discharge was achieved on March 13, 1980. The purpose of this report is to describe the findings of the project team during the intensive postdisposal study period of March and April, 1980. The major areas of investigation are physical oceanography, analysis of the discharge plume, water and sediment quality, nekton, benthos, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and data management. Document type: Report