Development Of An Instream Bioassessment Methodology For The Surface Disposal Of Coalbed Methane Produced Waters

The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate an instream monitoring methodology for the disposal of produced waters within guidelines of the water quality-based approach for the discharge of effluents. The methodology was developed using produced waters derived from the production of methane from coal seams in Alabama. Research efforts during 1991 focused on development and testing of an instream bioassessment procedure to be used for determining if discharged produced water effluents cause biological impairment within the receiving stream. Development of this particular procedure is important because regulations governing effluents are becoming more protective of the total instream environment, as opposed to strictly water quality, and methods are being proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) for use by industry and the states to this end. The bioassessment procedure outlined in this paper documents a sampling methodology that can be followed to determine if a discharged effluent is having a statistically significant effect on the structure of benthic macroinvertebrate communities downstream of a permitted discharge point. Data are presented developing the theoretical basis of the sampling procedure along with the results of two field investigations which applied the bioassessment methodology to permitted water discharges.