Monitoring

After discharge of oil and oil products, persistent components may be found in water, soil and biota. An assessment of environmental effects is based on reliable tools for determination of the environmental load of the different oil components. For regular discharges of oil and oil components, e.g. produced water and refinery effluents, it is important to monitor potential adverse effects in the vicinity of the discharge points. This is a challenging task due to the low concentrations of the target compounds in different environmental compartments. Acute oil spills (blowouts or ship accidents) require an extensive monitoring of the environmental load in water, sediment and biota in addition to monitoring the direct effects biota in the influence area.

Preparation of a quality plan, monitoring plan and use of state of the art sampling methods for water, sediment, and biota, sample handling and sample storage are important key features for a successful monitoring program.

SINTEF Materials and Chemistry is a major contributor to environmental monitoring in connection to Norwegian oil discharges, and has also operated internationally in monitoring programs after acute oil spills. We are, on behalf of NOFO (Norwegian Clean Seas) responsible for a standby arrangement for aftermath monitoring of the marine environment after acute oil spills. This standby arrangement is a co-operation between SINTEF, Institute of Marine Research and Rogaland Research.

Important key aspects for successful environmental monitoring are a good sampling strategy and a high quality analysis laboratory. SINTEF Materials and Chemistry has equipment for in-situ monitoring, which is a cost-effective method for high resolution monitoring data.

Contact at SINTEF: Alf Glein Melbye