Brine Contamination of Ground Water and Streams in the Baxterville Oil Field Area, Lamar and Marion Counties, Mississippi

A hydrologic investigation to define the extent of brine contamination in
ground water and streams in the Baxterville oil field area was conducted from
October 1984 through November 1985. The 260-square-mile study area
includes the Baxterville oil field (approximately 12.5 square miles) in
southwestern Lamar and southeastern Marion Counties, Mississippi. Since
1944, disposal of more than 1 billion barrels of brine pumped from the oil-
producing zones has contaminated (increased chloride to greater than
background concentrations) parts of the Citronelle and shallow Miocene
aquifers and some streams that drain the oil field. Many domestic wells have
been abandoned because of the presence of substantial quantities of brine in
the ground water. Brine has moved laterally through the shallowest aquifers
and discharged into Clear Creek and its tributaries. Although the presence of
brine in surface water was greatest during periods of low flow when
streamflow originated primarily from ground-water inflow, brine was also
detected during high-flow periods when streamflow consisted largely of
precipitation runoff.