Once again, professors and students at Tech are working together to make Louisiana a better place to live.  This time, they are using plants to help clean up after oil and brine spills and beautify the spill site. Brine is often called “produced water” by the oil industry.  One or more gallons of water (sometimes much more) come out of the ground with every gallon of oil; this water is loaded with salts, hydrocarbons, and sometimes radio nuclides, which are harmful to the environment and organisms.  This brine water can contain less salt than saltwater or 100 times as much.  Usually, this water is pumped back into the ground; unfortunately, accidents can occur.  In some cases, brine spills are worse than oil spills.  Oil stays at the surface; however, when the brine water spills, the salt creeps into the ground and prevents many plants from growing.  Previously, oil companies would dig out the soil and ship it to a specialized landfill.  However, in the near future they will be able to call a nursery and buy certain plants, mostly grasses and a few shrubs, to revegetate the area. Although these spills occur statewide, because any area that produces oil or natural gas will have brine, most of the study sites for this project are near Jena, Louisiana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A $42,320 grant for one year by Louisiana Oil Spill Research and Development Program (OSRDP) entitled “Pioneering Plants after Oil Spill: An Inventory” enables Dr. Wes Colgan III,  Dr. Milan Vavrek, and biology graduate student Barrett Clark to enhance economic restoration of oil and brine spills by compiling a list of plants that grow following brine or oil spills.  Part of the money is used to fund graduate student Barrett Clark, who assists with the daily responsibilities of the project.  In addition, Clark will design a Master’s thesis project based on this research.

In May 2004, the researchers began surveying oil and brine spill sites, contacting oil and gas producers, and building a list of spill sites to visit.  All field sites have been visited and the microscopy started.  From January 2005 to April 2005, they completed identifying plants, surveying the mycorrhizal status of pioneering plants, and surveying nurseries/seed sources for availability. 

“Brine spills are ugly, and often lead to erosion, which further pollutes streams and lakes, etc,”  stated Colgan.  The results of this project should bring business to local Louisiana nurseries, revegetate spill sites, improve aesthetics, and prevent erosion.  Barrett Clark has already presented a paper with the results in Baton Rouge in early March at the Remediation of Oil Brine Spill Sites symposium. 

For more information about OSRDP visit http://www.osradp.lsu.edu.