Oilfield brine-impacted soil is the most common environmental problem associated with oil production in Oklahoma.
Salt causes the outright death of plants, and the consequent erosion of topsoil.
Also, brine-impacted soil serves to contaminate surface waters and shallow aquifers. Of course, this strategy is inappropriate when groundwater must be protected from contamination. At the same time, the ISCA approach will fail if the salt is unable to migrate downward through the soil profile. The project proposed below, which concerns the further development of subsurface drainage systems for brine-impacted soil remediation, has two objectives. The second objective is to demonstrate the use of a solar evaporation pond for crystallizing the salt from the leachate, so that it may be disposed of at minimal cost.