Environmental Impact of the Oil Industry
15.5.2 DRILLING
Interfaces of drilling activities and the environment (from an SPDC handbook of 1993):
| Drilling Activity | Interface | Potential Environmental Impact (s=swamp;l=land) |
| Site preparation | Disturbance (clearing, dredging) | Loss off vegetation/arable land (s,l) Change hydrology (s) |
| Soil (dredging, construction) | Change sediment budget creeks (s) Smothering benthos (s) | |
| Transport | Noise/ disturbance | Banks/roads damaged Mammal/birds repelled |
| Water/soil (spillage) | Community disturbances Pollution | |
| Drilling | Waste/water (mud/cuttings) | Smothering benthos, repelling fish (s) Impact water quality (s) |
| Waste/soil (mud/cuttings) | Ground water pollution (l) Impact vegetation (flooding pits) (l); | |
| Soil/water (spillage) Noise |
Repelling mammals/birds Community disturbances | |
| Testing | Air pollution Hindrance, noise |
Greenhouse effect Ambient air quality Vegetation damage |
| Soil (carry over) | Repelling fauna Soil pollution Community disturbances |
There are eight main specific impacts of drilling.
Drilling - Extent
In the SPDC Eastern Region alone, 1,279 wells had been drilled by 1992 (of which 526 became producing wells). Whilst the areas covered by drilling sites are insignificant the ecological footprint caused by the drilling activity covers a much wider area as the above table suggests.
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