Subsea Pipelines and Pipeline Infrastructure Decommissioning Study

Background
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), is charged with promoting safety, protecting the environment, and conserving resources offshore through vigorous regulatory oversight and enforcement of offshore facilities engaged in oil and gas exploration, development, and production operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Among other responsibilities, BSEE enforces regulations for decommissioning pipelines and pipeline-related subsea infrastructure on the OCS seabed, and regulations for decommissioning wells, platforms, and other facilities.

Work Details
The study aims to enhance BSEE’s management of pipeline subsea infrastructure by assessing potential environmental impacts from pipelines and pipeline subsea infrastructure on the coastal and marine waters, and the associated ecosystems and sensitive habitat/species of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) OCS. The study will focus on contamination risk from residual potentially-hazardous materials within pipelines and associated equipment after decommissioning requirements and/or seawater flushing is complete. The contractor is required to develop and execute an offshore field plan for sampling materials and collecting water from decommissioned pipelines and pipeline infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. They must also conduct laboratory analyses to assess the composition and toxicity levels of the collected materials, determine potential environmental impacts, compare findings obtained from the laboratory analysis, provide a comprehensive assessment of the collected material during field sampling, develop and execute an onshore field collection plan for sampling material from decommissioned pipelines and pipeline subsea infrastructure found at onshore equipment scrapping and recycling yards in specific locations along the Gulf coasts of Louisiana and Texas.

The contractor must also conduct necessary laboratory analyses for materials collected during yard sampling, determine potential environmental impacts, compare findings obtained from laboratory analysis, provide a comprehensive assessment of collected material during yard sampling, as well as provide a comprehensive state-of-the-art review on decanting and decontamination techniques.

Place of Performance
The geographic locations where the contract will be performed include offshore locations in the Gulf of Mexico as well as specific locations along the Gulf coasts of Louisiana and Texas.