Louisiana offshore terminal authority environmental monitoring 2001-2002 marine/estuarine : Part 2.

PDFTech ReportState Project No. 736-99-0969Environmental monitoringOffshore oil industryDeepwater harborsEnvironmental impactsAquatic lifeMarine biologySedimentsWater qualityLouisianaLouisiana Transportation Research CenterBarry A. Vittor & Associates, Inc.Louisiana Transportation Research CenterUS Transportation CollectionThe objectives of the monitoring program are (1) to maintain seasonal environmental and ecological data so that conditions existing during operations can be related to historical baseline conditions; (2) to detect during the operation of the deepwater port any adverse alterations or damages to the environment so that corrective action can be taken as soon as possible; (3) to maintain sufficient data to determine the cause or causes of environmental damages or alterations so that responsibility can be properly placed; and (4) to provide information in order to evaluate long and short-term impacts of the deepwater port.The current LOOP monitoring program includes seasonal monitoring of aquatic and marine resources, sediment composition, and water quality on a five -year cycle. These data provide an update to the existing long-term LOOP dataset that was collected annually from 1979 to 1994, as well as a measure of natural environmental variability in the project area. The monitoring program was designed to identify environmental impacts that could occur due to offshore vessel operations (at the Single-Point Mooring and Terminal Complex), brine discharge, storage facility operations, and pipeline construction and operation