ENVIRONMENT REPORT 2013
page 7
There arematerials and energy inputs, as well as waste outputs, from the production processes on an offshore
installation. Some of these wastes are discharged to the sea with closely monitored permit conditions. Some
people believe that the sea should not be used for waste disposal, but it is known that the natural processes
occurring in the sea can deal with the waste from offshore operations, so long as environmental limits are
not exceeded. The disposal to sea of other wastes, such as garbage, scrap materials and very hazardous
chemicals, is not permitted and these are all returned to the shore for treatment and disposal, including reuse
and recycling.
When an oil and gas reservoir comes to the end of its economic life, decisions have to be made about removal
of the structures used for production. International regulations
3
currently require all structures to be removed
to leave a clean seabed, unless there are exceptional circumstances that would prevent this. However, the
effect on the environment of various decommissioning options, including ‘leaving in place’, must be fully
considered in an Environmental Impact Assessment, undertaken in consultation with interested parties such
as fishermen and conservation bodies.
2.3 Environmental Protection
The key to environmental protection is to have a good understanding of the potential environmental impacts
that could arise from operational activities and an effective process to manage these to the point where they
are not causing any significant harm.
Operators of oil and gas installations achieve this through application of a formal Environmental Management
System (EMS) which includes a policy commitment to the environment and to continual improvement in
environmental performance. The EMS requires all risks to the environment to be assessed and appropriate
management measures applied to those that are significant.
The EMS process is reinforced by regulations
4
that require each stage of oil and gas operations to be covered
by an Environmental Impact Assessment and, in some cases, set limits on potentially harmful waste disposal.
These limits are given to the operator in permits and consents.
2.4 How Environmental Management Works
There are two approaches to checking that operations are not significantly affecting the environment.
The first is to measure and report on all the waste streams produced. If this data show that the emissions
and discharges are within the limits identified in the EMS and in permits and consents, then the environment
should be adequately protected. This can be confirmed through the second approach, which is to monitor the
environment itself to assess the status of various environmental health indicators, such as the seabed animal
community structure and levels of chemical contamination.
Both industry and government departments undertake this type of monitoring and make the findings
publically available. In general, government publications on the state of the marine environment, such as
Charting Progress
5
and
Scotland’s Marine Atlas
6
, together with industry surveys
7
, show that the sector is not
having a significant impact on the environment.
3
OSPAR Decision 98/3. See
4
See
5
See
Charting Progress 2: An Assessment of the State of UK Seas
at:
6
See
Scotland’s Marine Atlas: Information for the National Marine Plan
at:
7
See Oil & Gas UK’s Wide Area Surveys at:
