Drilling Waste Management in Onshore Environmental Sensitive Areas

Drilling operations have always been considered by environmental agencies because of generating large volumes of wastes during operation include drilling fluid, cuttings, rig wash water, etc…. Discharge of these wastes in the environment is the main concern and requires waste management plan before starting the project in the drilling site. Many practices and treatment have been introduced in the drilling site to treat and manage of the drilling waste but there are still some issues about environmental friendly, operational and cost effective practices in drilling operation. This paper describes the dewatering process as a drilling waste management practices in a drilling project in Western Australia. The main significant objective of this project is to remain the operator in compliance with current regulations and the cost of waste management practice. Also preplanning laboratory test has optimized chemical consumption and helped to find out the dewatering efficiency in waste treatment.