Abstract

Oil well drilling activities generate residues calleddrill cuttings that will be treated before being disposed onsite.When drill cuttings are released into the sea, drill cutting pilesor mounds will form on the seabed. These pile formations mayhinder future under-sea operation. They may have adverseimpacts on corals if the thickness of the pile over the coral beds ispersistently high. This simulation study is conducted at the drillcuttings release sites Z-1 and B-1 in the South China Sea off thecoast of Sabah. This modelling study will assess the potentialimpacts of the pile formation on coral community and on theecology in the dive site (shipwreck) nearby. For Z-1, theparticles settle on the seabed far away from the corals and faraway from the shipwreck sites. Hence they will have no adverseimpact on the corals nor on the shipwreck site environment andecology. For B-1, the coral site is located at a shorter distancefrom the discharge location. The pile height at the coral sitevaries between 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm. The average sedimentationrate varying between 3.1 to 31 mg/cm2/day occurs over a shortduration of 3.875 days. This low sedimentation rate over a shortduration will have insignificant impact on the corals.