Browsing by Author "Spears, Roy W."
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Item Bio-assay and Chemical Analysis of American Smelting and Refining Company Waste and its Effects on Aquatic Life in Corpus Christi Harbor - Pollution Abatement in Region MP-2 (Areas M-4 through M-9)(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960-09-09) Spears, Roy W.The American Smelting and Refining Company has an acid waste that escapes periodically from a bleed line. The flow is so small the acid waste dissipates before doing any physical harm to aquatic life.Item Bio-assay of Columbia-Southern Final Effluent and its Potential Effects on the Aquatic Life in Nueces Bay - Pollution Abatement in Regions M-4 through M-9(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960-08-09) Spears, Roy W.The Columbia Southern Chemical Corporation has reduced the chlorine content of their waste water by agitation through an open culvert. At the present there is no physical or chemical damage being done to aquatic life in the Corpus Christi Harbor by this waste. The Navigation District has granted permission to Columbia Southern to fill in a designated area in Nueces Bay with the sandy waste from another waste line.Item Bio-assay of Pontiac Refinery's Effluent and Determination of Its Effects on the Marine Environment in Corpus Christi Bay - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1962) Spears, Roy W.Pontiac Refinery has a toxic waste that empties into Corpus Christi Harbor at a rate of 500 gallons per minute. The most toxic substance present in this waste is a phenolic compound that has a direct toxic effect on aquatic life. Beds of oil sludge formed by the waste settling on the bay bottom are indirectly toxic, since they reduce the dissolved oxygen content below the survival level of 4.0 parts per million, a level below which many vertebrates and invertebrates cannot survive. Natural purification and dilution of the waste by harbor water reduces the toxic level of the pollution load, restricts the contaminated area within the cove to 300 feet beyond the outfall and minimizes damage to the marine environment.Item Bio-Assay of Sinclair Refinery's Effluent and Its Effect on Aquatic Life in Corpus Christi Harbor - Pollution Abatement in Regions M-4 through M-9(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960-09-06) Spears, Roy W.Sinclair Refinery has several toxic pollutants entering Corpus Christi Harbor through a cove dredged for mudshell barges. These pollutants are phenols, sulfides, and oil; however, only traces of oil were located at station 4. There is another industrial waste emptying into the same area that contains chlorine, which could possibly reduce the phenol content since application of chlorine has been satisfactorily used in post-dephenolization. Also, the agitation received in flowing down a wooden flume could reduce the phenol and sulfide content.Item Bio-assay of Suntide Refinery's Final Effluent and its Effects on Aquatic Life in Corpus Christi Harbor - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1962) Spears, Roy W.Suntide Refinery has a waste that is very toxic to marine aquatic organisms and could be detrimental to the marine environment. However, under existing conditions of oil extraction from the effluent, disposal of spent caustics to other industries, and available dilution water to reduce the toxic components present to a non-toxic state, Corpus Christi Harbor is not affected by waste disposal from Suntide Refinery.Item Bio-assay of the Pontiac Refinery and Final Effluent and its Effects on Aquatic Life in Corpus Christi Harbor(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1959) Spears, Roy W.The Pontiac Refinery empties a toxic waste into Corpus Christi Harbor. The plant is equipped with API separators which extract the toxic components (oils and settable solids), but at the present they are not capable of handling the waste properly to render it safe for aquatic life.Item Bio-Assay of the Pontiac Refinery Final Effluent and Its Effects on Aquatic Life in Corpus Christi Harbor - Pollution Abatement in Region M-4 through M-9(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960-08-08) Spears, Roy W.The Pontiac Refinery has a waste emptying into the Corpus Christi Harbor that carries toxic chemicals, an oil waste and a high chemical oxygen demand waste that is detrimental to aquatic life. This should be remedied by a dilution process, retention ponds, or enlargement of present separators.Item Detection and Measurement of Pollution and Its Effects on Marine Organisms in Chiltipin Creek and Copano Bay - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1962) Spears, Roy W.Chiltipin Creek, previously classed as a route for disposal of industrial wastes, has no commercial or recreational value from a fisheries viewpoint. However, it empties into a body of water that is valuable to both the commercial and sports fishery. The creek carried a load of oil which can produce profound changes in a marine environment. Water soluble extracts from the oily waste exert a direct toxic action upon some lower invertebrates, causing an upset in the natural food cycle. This extract inhibits feeding activities of oysters, resulting in death as well as causing an oily taste, and tends to force game fish and shrimp from the area. Settled oil covers bay bottoms, destroying fertile areas necessary for nursery grounds. With the continuation of oily wastes carried by Chiltipin Creek, the Copano Bay area would be virtually destroyed. However, through cooperation from the Railroad Commission in issuing pipeline and production severances to those companies in violation, the conditions of Chiltipin Creek have improved considerably over the previous year.Item Detection and Measurement of Pollution in Corpus Christi Harbor - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1962) Spears, Roy W.There are eight industries using water from Corpus Christi Harbor either as a coolant for industrial equipment or as a disposal area for process waste. This disposal of effluent keeps the perimeter of the harbor contaminated constantly. A shifting of the pollution load by tidal exchange dilutes toxic components and thus, together with self-purification, renders the harbor channel relatively free of pollution. The largest contribution to pollution in Corpus Christi Harbor is from ships losing oil while entering and leaving the harbor, or from line breaks or leaks while loading ships. Corpus Christi Harbor is not classified as an area of biologic importance. With the industrial boom and increased traffic in the area, it is almost impossible to eliminate pollution. The ultimate aim is to keep pollution at a minimum and retain it within the harbor. It is evident from all samples at Station 9 that the pollution load is either retained within the harbor or is diluted to the extent of rendering it non-toxic before emptying into Corpus Christi Bay.Item Investigation of Delhi-Taylor Refinery's Effluent and Disposal Area - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Spears, Roy W.Delhi-Taylor Refinery's waste is harmful or fatal to fish by the presence of a toxic amount of phenolic compounds and sulfides in the wastes. The waste also contains a high oxygen consuming sludge that depletes the dissolved oxygen in the water to such an extent that asphyxiation may result. The median tolerance limit of phenols to aquatic life was found to be 14.5 parts per million (Job No. F-1, 1959). The phenol concentration was never below 19.0 ppm. at Station 3, but decreased rapidly after entering the harbor. Sulfides reduced the tolerance significantly at Station 1, but aeration by agitation in the ditch prior to disposal reduced the sulfides to an average of 0.8 ppm before entering the harbor. The concentration was always less than 1.0 ppm in the harbor. Oil globules collect to suspended particles in the API separators obtaining a specific gravity nearly equal to water. The stringy, flocculent, emulsified sludge is not retained in the separators and flows out with the cooling water. This agglomerate waste tends to settle within 25 yards of the disposal area, presenting a threat to aquatic life by decreasing the dissolved oxygen content and covering the bottom with oil. An area diked off in the harbor at the disposal site and used as a retention pond would retain this agglomerate waste. It would also restrict the contaminants in the water from dispersing in the harbor and provide suitable dilution of the waste. In this way the toxicity would be reduced.Item Investigation of Howell Refinery's Effluent and Disposal Area - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Spears, Roy W.Howell Refinery processes only sweet crude at the rate of 2500 barrels per day. A stripper is used to strip light crude of butadiene, kerosene, diesel, gasoline and distillate. There are no toxic chemicals present in the waste which has a 100 per cent 48-hour TLm at all stations. The waste flows from a gravity type separator into a shallow five acre retention pond filled with cattails. The sandy flats and cattails (Typha sp.) filter 95 per cent of the oil found in the waste prior to disposal into the harbor.Item Investigation of Oilfield Pollution in Petronilla Creek - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Spears, Roy W.Objectives: To detect and measure the toxic compounds present in Petronilla Creek and to influence oil operators in the area to initiate a better pollution control program which would prevent destruction of aquatic organisms in Baffin Bay.Item Investigation of Pollution in Chiltipin Creek - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Spears, Roy W.Oil wells in the Plymouth and Sinton fields contributed 32 per cent of the 254,000 barrels of waste emptied into Copano Bay during 1962. Sixty-four per cent of samples collected from the wells' effluents contained oil in excess of 25 ppm., the maximum allowed by the Texas Railroad Commission. The portion of Chiltipin Creek that collects the waste from these two fields contained oil 59 per cent of the time. Most of the skimming pits in Sinton Field are too small and too poorly constructed and maintained to retain the waste oil efficiently. Most of the separators in Plymouth Field are well constructed and maintained, but several wells dispose excessive amounts of waste and separators alone will not retain the waste oil. The operators are working with chemical treatment to remove the waste oil. Taft and Midway fields disposed 67 per cent of the total volume of wasate entering Copano Bay. Oil was present in 36 per cent of the samples taken from the effluent. Only 12 per cent of the samples collected in the drainage ditches prior to disposal into Chiltipin Creek and Copano Bay contained oil. This reduction is attributed to additional skimming by a separator in the Taft drainage ditch and a 50-acre lake in the Midway ditch. Most of the oil lost into Chiltipin Creek is filtered out of the water by debris and creek banks. Ten per cent of the samples collected at the mouth of Chiltipin Creek contained oil. This oil disperses into Copano Bay, clings to clay particles and settles, covering 25 per cent of the bottom west of the causeway. However, there is no increase in oil concentration over the previous year.Item Investigation of Southwestern Oil and Refinery's Effluent and Disposal Area - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Spears, Roy W.Southwest Oil and Refinery, located at Corpus Christi, has a toxic waste present in its cooling water waste. The phenols, sulfides and oxygen demanding sludge are not sufficiently reduced by plant treatment methods to a concentration which can be tolerated by aquatic organisms. However, the waste flows through a series of earthen pits which allow additional oxidation of the chemicals, thereby decreasing the concentration of toxic compounds and increasing the median tolerance limit of the waste to 85 per cent. The toxic materials are reduced further by mixing with basin water in a retention pond in the harbor waste and the final wsate is non-toxic to marine life in Corpus Christi harbor. The API gravity separators in the plant do not retain waste oil efficiently. An emulsified oil, with a specific gravity approximately equal to water, forms by oil globules attaching to suspended solids in the water. This emulsion forms a heavy, oily sludge that flows out of the API separators, through the earthen pits and into the basin. This sludge has a high oxygen consuming value which reduced the dissolved oxygen content to a range of 0.0 ppm. to 2.0 ppm. at Station 2. The company plans to reduce this oily sludge by saturating the effluent with oxygen in air tanks and releasing it through a perforated line into the earthen pits. This oxygen saturated waste will float the emulsified oil to the surface thereby increasing the skimming capacity of the pits.Item Investigation of the Existence of Oilfield Pollution in the Mission River - Pollution Abatement in Regions M-4 through M-9(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960-11-29) Spears, Roy W.The main source of pollution in the Mission River is oilfield waste. The fields are old resulting in excessive salt water disposal. The gravity separation of oil and water is inadequate and excessive amounts of oil are dumped into the river. This pollution has limited the river to rough fish having no sports or commercial fishing value and has helped deplete the oyster population in Mission Bay.Item Investigation of the Existence of Pollution in Chiltipin Creek(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1959) Spears, Roy W.The Chiltipin Creek's main function at present is to serve as a route for disposal of oil field wastes from three fields. These wastes are high in total chlorides and oil content and are in sufficient amounts to deem the creek biologically dead.Item Investigation of the Existence of Pollution in Chiltipin Creek - Pollution Abatement in Regions M-4 through M-9(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1960-11-01) Spears, Roy W.The Chiltipin Creek's main function at present is to transport oilfield waste from four major and two minor fields. This high saline and oily waste is slowly destroying nursery grounds for game fish and shrimp and increasing the salinity content of the Aransas River.Item Investigation of the Existence of Pollution in Mission River Contributed by the Numerous Oil Wells Located from the Head of the River to its Mouth(Texas Game and Fish Commission, 1959) Spears, Roy W.The Mission River is now being used to dispose of oil field wastes from several oil fields in the Refugio area. As a result of the oil field brine and oil in the river the biological value is limited to rough fish.Item Investigation of Waste Flowing Through Petronilla Creek and Evaluation of Its Possible Effects on Marine Life in Baffin Bay - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1962) Spears, Roy W.Objective: To detect, measure, and control toxic substances which may pollute waters in Baffin Bay via Petronilla Creek.Item Measure of the Mission River's Capacity for Absorbing Pollution - Pollution Abatement in Region V(Texas Game and Fish Commission Marine Laboratory, 1963) Spears, Roy W.The Mission River cannot support an appreciable supply of freshwater organisms since encroachment of bay water by tidal fluctuation covers 65 per cent of the river and rainfall and runoff allows the river to flow naturally only 2- per cent of the time. The river is capable of supporting marine life providing the pollution load does not exceed the absorption capacity of the river. The Mission River has the capacity for self-purifying and absorbing most of the pollution received from the 2.5 million gallons per day of oilfield waste; however, the insoluble oil present in the waste flows downstream until it is filtered out of the water by the river banks and debris in the river, clings to clay particles and settles to the bottom. The river carried a silt load of 164 tons in 1962, or enough to cover one acre of bay bottom with one-inch of silt. This silt accompanied with the oil can destroy Mission Bay as a nursery grounds for marine organisms.