Oil & Gas

OFFICE OF CONSERVATION TO OVERSEE OILFIELD SITE CLOSURE IN CAMERON PARISH

Work has begun to close the former Big Diamond waste disposal facility in Cameron parish according to officials at the Department of Natural Resources' Office of Conservation (OC). The first step in the closure process is to pump out rainwater that has accumulated in two treatment cells at the site, reported OC's Director of Injection and Mining Carroll Wascom.

Wascom said the next step will be to perform a comprehensive sampling and testing program of the partially treated oilfield (exploration and production) wastes that remain in the pits to determine their current conditions. Using this test data, a complete remediation plan will be devised and implemented.

The Big Diamond Trucking Service, Inc. site is located near the community of Sweet Lake. The facility received oilfield waste from 1979 to 1985. By 1990, the OC began closure plans and enlisted the help of operators that had used the site to assist in funding for closure activities.

After the water is removed from the pits, the remaining material in the pits will be sampled and analyzed to determine the current status of the waste. Two weeks before the date of the sampling, area citizens will be notified and will have an opportunity to take split samples.

"We have been working on this project for the past two years and I'm excited that this will be the start of the process to ultimately clean up and close the Big Diamond site," noted state Representative Dan Flavin of District 36.

Anyone wanting additional information on the closure may call Carroll Wascom or Pierre Catrou at (504) 342-9197.