As part of the UK Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) ongoing sectorial Strategic Environmental Assessment a seabed survey programme (SEA5) was undertaken between August and early October 2003 for the UKCS areas lying between Scotland and Orkney and Shetland. This report summarises the sediment total hydrocarbon and aromatic data generated from the analyses of selected samples from the study areas detailed: Fair Isle - 46 to 198m water depth; Outer Moray Firth A - 61 to 171m; Outer Moray Firth B - 57 to 100m; Sandy Riddle - 30 to 70m; Smith Bank - 39m; Southern Trench - 76 to 252m.

Sediment samples were collected during the Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA1 (White Zone) Environmental Survey in 2000 at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This data report collates all the results generated by Gardline Survey Limited. The analysis undertaken on the sediment samples were: total organic carbon and total organic nitrogen; total hydrocarbon and n-alkane content and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) content.

This report present the data obtained from the analysis of sediment samples collected during survey operations for the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment programme (SEA7), carried out in August/September 2005. Samples were analysed for: Total organic carbon and nitrogen; Particle size analysis; Hydrocarbons and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons; Trace and heavy metals. A spreadsheet of data is included.

Sediment samples were collected from selected areas of the southern North Sea as part of the ongoing Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA2). The aim of the survey was to describe the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of a range of offshore sandbanks and pockmarks (more than 12 km from the coast). The survey focused on three main study areas in the southern North Sea: the Dogger Bank study area; the South Fladen Pockmark study area and a major sand bank area off the coasts of Norfolk and Lincolnshire. This report presents the following sediment data: Total hydrocarbon and n-alkane concentrations; 2 to 6 ring polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) content; selected metals concentrations.

This data report contains the results of the analysis of sediment samples collected by Geotek on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) as part of the Strategic Environment Assessment SEA1 (White Zone) environmental sampling programme conducted from RRS Charles Darwin in summer 1999 (cruise 119C leg 2). The analyses undertaken includes total organic carbon and total organic nitrogen, particle size distribution (including silt, clay, silt/clay, carbonate and organic matter content), total and aliphatic hydrocarbon content); 2 to 6 ring polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) content and metal oxides and heavy metal content.

As part of Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA1, sediment samples were collected at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) from Charles Darwin between July and September 2000. Samples for a number of chemical and biological analyses were collected. The analysis undertaken on the sediment samples collected were: total organic carbon and total organic nitrogen; total hydrocarbon and n-alkane content; and 2 to 6 ring polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) content. Excel files containing the data are also available.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA6) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report considers the major sources of contamination to the Irish Sea from offshore energy installations and puts them in the context of other sources of contamination to the region. The report also considers contamination of the wider environment, making use of data provided by monitoring programmes and other specific studies. The oil and gas industry in the Irish Sea is small by comparison to that of the North Sea, but bears comparison to that of the Southern North Sea which is dominated by gas production and for which many of the platforms are in relatively shallow water. The discharge of production and drilling chemicals, residual oil and compounds derived from the formation water co-produced with the oil or gas contribute to the contamination concentration in sediments and water. However, in Liverpool Bay and Morecambe Bay, where the oil and gas fields are located, the riverine inputs of major groups of organic contaminants and metals are found to be several orders of magnitude greater than those from the offshore oil and gas industry. Inputs of artificial radionuclides into the Irish Sea are dominated by discharges from Sellafield on the Cumbrian coast. The distribution of radionuclides in seawater, in the sediment and in biota are reviewed.

This report is a contribution to the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environment Assessment SEA2 for the North Sea. It draws on a wide range of data sources to provide an overview of the chemicals used in the offshore oil and gas industry, of the chemicals already in the environment and of those released into the environment from other sources. Considering the whole sea area, it should be noted that the water samples with the highest levels of chemical contamination are found at inshore estuary and coastal sites subject to high industrial usage. Approximately 2,000 chemical products are used by the offshore oil and gas industry. In 1999 some 180,000 tonnes of chemicals were discharged into the UK sector of the North Sea. Produced water is now the main source of contaminants, having overtaken drill cuttings since oil-based muds were replaced by less harmful alternatives. 24,286 tonnes of chemicals were reported as discharged to the UKCS in produced water in 1999. As oilfields mature, the amount of produced water increases. The range of chemicals used by the offshore oil and gas industry, the means of regulating them and of monitoring their use, are discussed. Evidence of biological effects caused by the release of contaminants into the sea is reviewed.