Page 158 - Environmental Control in Petroleum Engineering

Planning for Environmental Protection 145

3. Minimize short- and long-term liabilities and risks associated
with facilities operations.
4. Minimize operating costs through savings in raw materials and
production costs.
5. Minimize personnel costs associated with waste management by
having a written plan available.
6. Minimize costs of treating and disposing of wastes.
7. Minimize employee exposure to potentially hazardous materials.
8. Maintain a favorable corporate image.
Environmental protection plans should be developed with the guid-
ance of people who are knowledgeable in the technical, regulatory, and
operational aspects of systems operations and waste disposal. To be
successful, these plans need the visible support of top management
and require the active participation of field personnel, both in develop-
ing and implementing them. Because operations, regulations, and
technology are constantly changing, environmental audits should be
conducted periodically and associated waste management and contin-
gency plans should be updated as needed.
An assessment of the potential environmental impact from future
developments should also be conducted, and may be required in some
areas. Such assessments include identifying all areas that the develop-
ment may impact, quantifying the scale of that impact, and comparing
it to regulatory standards. The findings of this assessment can be used
to improve the design of facilities to reduce associated environmental
risks. The entire project should be reevaluated at regular intervals to
ensure minimal environmental impact (Grogan, 1991).

5.1 ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS

An important step in developing effective waste management plans
is to conduct an environmental audit. Environmental audits provide
detailed information on the types, volumes, locations, and handling
procedures of all materials that have a potential to impact the environ-
ment, and they determine whether operations are in compliance with
applicable regulations. The primary objectives of environmental audits
are to lower the operating, compliance, and liability costs associated
with drilling and production operations. Several benefits of environ-
mental audits are that they: