Environmental impact of gas platforms in the Northern Adriatic Sea: a case study

A monitoring program was developed to assess the impact on the marine ecosystem induced by the off-shore gas platform Calipso (ENI S.p.A), located in the Northern Adriatic Sea. Benthic communities are widely used in the monitoring of effects of marine impacts as the organisms are mostly sessile and integrate effects of pollutants over time. Changes to benthic infauna, sediments and water quality as well as biota bioaccumulation caused by gas drilling operations in the Calipso field were experimentally evaluated using a multidisciplinary approach. Since the platform was placed in May 2002 at about 19 nm far from Ancona, from 2002 to 2005, sediments and benthic communities were seasonally collected by box corer and Van Veen grab along two perpendicular transects (NW-SE, in parallel with predicted current movements and NE-SW). Mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) were also collected seasonally from platform legs, both close and far from sacrificial anodes and at a control site. Polycyclic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, organic matter contents and heavy metals were determined. Changes in the abundance of species aggregated by phylum were assessed. No significant differences of pollutant levels were evidenced in mussel among the sites and values were in accordance with those measured in costal areas of Adriatic Sea.