TREATMENT OF PRODUCED OILY SAND - FIELD RESULTS

Land treatment techniques successfully treated oily waste generated du ring the production of crude oil. Over 13 years of safe operations hav e demonstrated the environmental acceptability of the method. Natural biodegradation processes removed nearly 80% of the applied waste oil. The oily fraction of the waste had an average half-life in the soil of approximately 3 years, with significant variability between years. Th ere was a slight increase in the proportion of heavy hydrocarbons (res ins and asphaltenes) in the soil, suggesting the preferential degradat ion of the lighter constituents. Metals of environmental concern did n ot accumulate in, or migrate from, the plowzone of the soil. (C) 1997 ISWA.