A Drilling Reserve Mud Pit Assessment in Iran: Environmental Impacts and Awareness

The major objective of this work is to investigate the mud pit pollution caused by drilling operations at one of the Iranian onshore drilling well sites. In this study, sampling and monitoring of heavy metal concentrations (cadmium, chromium, nickel, and aluminum) in mud pit liquids was performed rigorously in two phases: during and after drilling operations on the selected drilling well site. Measured concentrations of heavy metals in the reserve mud pit of the well site are higher than the standard criteria. Environmental impacts of drilling mud in the investigated site and the causes of contaminations are discussed. Also, the pollution effects of the mud pit on natural resources of the selected drilling well site are presented.