Offshore Oil and Gas - NPDES Draft General Permit

USPEA issued the NPDES 2012 Draft General Permit recently. 

The permit is for discharges from the offshore subcategory of the Oil and Gas Extraction Point Source Category for the Western Portion of the Outer Continental Shelf of the Gulf of Mexico (GMG290000) .

The draft permit is available in PDF format at 

http://www.epa.gov/region6/water/npdes/genpermit/index.htm

The permit requires the use of CORMIX to model worst case critical dilution concentration (CDC) conditions for produced water discharges from offshore oil and gas drilling operations.

CorPlot - sediment bottom deposition contours
from a simulation study of drilling muds and cuttings discharge

CORMIX can model and predict the fate and effects of produced water discharges from offshore oil and gas drilling operations. The model can provide water column suspended sediment and tracer concentrations in addition to dimensions of the resultant disposal plume.

Additionally, CORMIX can be used to model drill cuttings and muds discharges from offshore operations. 

The model can be used to model bottom sediment deposition over time varying ambient current conditions.