Abandoned oil and gas well site environmental risk estimation

ABSTRACT

The article estimates the environmental risk (i.e. potential adverse biological receptor effects) of abandoned yet unreclaimed well sites in Alberta. This estimation was completed through a statistical analysis of publicly available environmental data on 298 well sites. The connections among contaminant hazards, exposure pathway-routes and biological receptors were analyzed using fuzzy logic. Based on the available data, well type is the only predictor required to classify the environmental risk of a site into one of four adverse effect (AE) classes. Generally, the large majority of well sites in the data-set did not pose a significant AE. At well sites posing a significant AE, produced water impacts were the primary contributor.

KEYWORDS:

• Well site
• reclamation
• environmental risk
• statistical analysis
• fuzzy logic
• prioritization

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge and appreciate research funding received from The University of Calgary, Manulife Financial Corp, and Engineers Canada.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The University of Calgary, Manulife Financial Corp and Engineers Canada.