Disposal of liquid wastes into the estuarine environment is the major 

 pollution impact on coastal waters. This problem can be solved either by 

 treating all wastes to such an extent that they do not alter the ecosystem 

 or reduce the carrying capacity, or else by entirely prohibiting their dis- 

 charge into the environment. 



Technology exists for the effective treatment of nearly every kind of 

 municipal and industrial waste. Treatment requirements for different wastes 

 may vary from place to place according to local conditions. 



Water quality standards have been set by EPA and are being implemented 

 in all coastal states. These standards and stringent effluent limitations 

 are the foundations on which the effective control of estuarine pollution 

 rests, and they provide the framework within which technical management can 

 effectively operate. 



4.14.2 Discharges 



Each class of OCS-related facility (oil refinery, gas processing plant, 

 etc.) is characterized by a general family of potential polluting residuals. 

 Yet, no approximation of the actual discharge of residuals can be made until 

 the design and working characteristics of the individual plant are known in 

 detail. For example: [7] 



The concentration of pollutants in the refinery effluent will vary 

 as a function of the complexity of the refinery's processing range 

 from simple crude oil separation by distillation to more complex 

 alterations involving rearrangement of chemical structures.... 

 When heavier crude oil is refined. . .COD concentrations are higher 

 than when refining lighter crude oils. There appears to be no 

 meaningful correlation between feedstock and raw waste load for... 

 BOD, total suspended solids, oil and grease, phenol and ammonia. 



Several major classes of pollutants typical of OCS-related industrial 

 process waters are discussed in the following paragraphs. 



Hydrocarbons : Process water discharges from OCS-related facilities 

 may contain a variety of hydrocarbons in sizeable quantities. These include 

 oil and grease as well as cresol , phenol compounds, kerosene, naphtha, 

 styrene, and toluene. These substances are incorporated into coastal 

 ecosystems through many pathways (Figure 41) and have a wide variety of 

 impacts on estuarine systems. These impacts, aside from obvious aesthetic 

 effects, range from immediate smothering to chronic, subtle genetic 

 modification of marine organisms. In addition, oils act to concentrate 

 other pollutants, such as pesticides (particularly chlorinated hydrocarbons), 

 thereby increasing the ecological hazards. Estuarine systems are 

 vulnerable to extreme effects from petroleum because of bioaccumulation 

 through the food chain. 



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