Dataset Identification:
Resource Abstract:
- description: In 1988, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) funded a contaminants project with the following objectives
: 1) conduct a reconnaissance-level field inspection of abandoned oil and gas exploration sites on the Alaska Peninsula/ Becharof
National Wildlife Refuge, 2) identify and map abandoned physical remains of oil exploration activities and 3) collect soil
samples for organochlorine, petroleum, and metal analysis. During the field survey, several sites warranting further study
were identified. One such site was Bear Creek Well No., drilled as an exploration well by the Humble Oil and Refining Company
(now Exxon) in the 1950s and abandoned for lack of commercial potential. The well pads still contained a large amount of wood
and metal from buildings and machinery used during the exploration drilling. In early 1990, Refuge Manager Ronald Hood proposed
to the Exxon officials involved in the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup that Exxon remove both the debris at the Bear Creek
Well No. 1 site and the old culverts under the access road. Exxon complied, removing the debris and most of the culverts during
1990 and 1991. In 1993 Service personnel performed soil sampling at the well pads to identify any residual contamination left
after Exxon's abandonment of the site. Some petroleum and metal residues of concern were found on the pads. Also, the
remains of the reserve pit were found to be eroding into a stream which flows into Bear Creek, an important salmon spawning
stream. The reserve pit residues contained significant amounts of barium (identified in an earlier report), petroleum, zinc,
and a trace of polychlorinated biphyenls. It is recommended that this site be investigated further to determine the extent
of the contamination related to the well pads and the reserve pit and the ecological risk associated with this site.; abstract:
In 1988, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) funded a contaminants project with the following objectives : 1) conduct
a reconnaissance-level field inspection of abandoned oil and gas exploration sites on the Alaska Peninsula/ Becharof National
Wildlife Refuge, 2) identify and map abandoned physical remains of oil exploration activities and 3) collect soil samples
for organochlorine, petroleum, and metal analysis. During the field survey, several sites warranting further study were identified.
One such site was Bear Creek Well No., drilled as an exploration well by the Humble Oil and Refining Company (now Exxon) in
the 1950s and abandoned for lack of commercial potential. The well pads still contained a large amount of wood and metal from
buildings and machinery used during the exploration drilling. In early 1990, Refuge Manager Ronald Hood proposed to the Exxon
officials involved in the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup that Exxon remove both the debris at the Bear Creek Well No. 1 site
and the old culverts under the access road. Exxon complied, removing the debris and most of the culverts during 1990 and 1991.
In 1993 Service personnel performed soil sampling at the well pads to identify any residual contamination left after Exxon's
abandonment of the site. Some petroleum and metal residues of concern were found on the pads. Also, the remains of the reserve
pit were found to be eroding into a stream which flows into Bear Creek, an important salmon spawning stream. The reserve pit
residues contained significant amounts of barium (identified in an earlier report), petroleum, zinc, and a trace of polychlorinated
biphyenls. It is recommended that this site be investigated further to determine the extent of the contamination related to
the well pads and the reserve pit and the ecological risk associated with this site.
Citation
- Title Contaminants Survey: Bear Creek Well Number 1: Alaska Peninsula/Becharof National Wildlife Refuge.
-
- creation Date
2018-05-21T02:24:53.003036
Resource language:
Processing environment:
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Metadata data stamp:
2018-08-07T01:35:59Z
Resource Maintenance Information
- maintenance or update frequency:
- notes: This metadata record was generated by an xslt transformation from a dc metadata record; Transform by Stephen M. Richard, based
on a transform by Damian Ulbricht. Run on 2018-08-07T01:35:59Z
Metadata contact
-
pointOfContact
- organisation Name
CINERGI Metadata catalog
-
- Contact information
-
-
- Address
-
- electronic Mail Address cinergi@sdsc.edu
Metadata language
eng
Metadata character set encoding:
utf8
Metadata standard for this record:
ISO 19139 Geographic Information - Metadata - Implementation Specification
standard version:
2007
Metadata record identifier:
urn:dciso:metadataabout:4f3eb861-90ce-4bcd-aa21-da7b679d34e5
Metadata record format is ISO19139 XML (MD_Metadata)