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The Venezuelan oil industry has begun an exploration and drilling program in the Orinoco Delta, and an intensive research is executed about the feasibility of landspreading as an option to dispose water based drilling wastes (DW) to avoid the contamination of water bodies. The original fluvial marine seasonal floodplain nearby Boca de Uracoa town (9 N, 62, 21' W), was modified after the closure of Manamo distributary, which led to the transformation of the original substrate with high pyrite contain, to acid-sulphate soils. Greenhouse experiments were carried out applying Drilling Waste (DW) equivalent doses of 0, 200, 500, 1000 and 1500 m3/ha to an acid-sulphate soil, using as test plant Zea mays var. PB-8. The results show that the elevated pH of DW (pH of 9.7) neutralizes the very acidic reaction of the acid-sulphate soils (pH 2.85) which is reflected on the higher production of biomass obtained with DW equivalent doses over 500 m3/ha. The Ba content in aerial biomass was below 0.2 g/g in all treatments, while Pb and Zn content were depleted by the parallel application of Phosphoric rock (PR). Concentrations of these elements in the soil equilibrium solution, shows very low leaching and low availability for vegetation. Introduction Development of the oil resources occurring in the tropical swamp forests in Eastern Venezuela in the states of Monagas, Delta Amacuro and Sucre, convey significant environmental challenges for the Venezuelan Oil Industry as well as for its business associates. One of these is related to the future disposal of water based Drilling Waste (DW) made up by cuttings and spent mud components under the following constraints:The absence in this region of consolidated soils were mud pit disposal can be performed,Corporate Environmental Policy that mandates the development of this resources in a cost effective environmentally surgical (minimal impact) way, andThe evolution of environmental regulations that moves towards banning the conventional mud pit disposal methods. There constraints suggest that DW disposal should be dealt within the land reclamation frameworks. In order to proceed with this scheme, two premises are relevant. On one hand DW must be sought as a soil amendment analyzable with soil chemistry and fertility criteria. On the other hand, there are suitable soils (acid-sulphate pH < 3.5), within cost effective distances that could function as harmless stable sinks for disposal of DW (basic, pH >9.0). In order to determine the feasibility of developing a safe landspreading technique for DW, that without harming vegetation growth can involve physical-chemical properties of acid-sulphate soils, a project that includes greenhouse, laboratory and field experiments leading to an operational scale landspreading procedure has been established. Preliminary laboratory results are reported in this paper. Given the above premises, the location, occurrence and relevant properties of acidic and acid sulfate soils of Eastern Monagas and Delta Amacuro state, follows. Description of landscape and soil processes The study area (Fig. 1), that has been chosen for the potential disposal of DW, is located Northeast of the town of Boca de Uracoa, in Monagas state (9 N, 62 21' W). P. 35

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A significant proportion of the expected oil reserves to be found and produced in Eastern Venezuela, are located on wetlands from the Orinoco River Delta (Monagas and Delta Amacuro States). These environments have complex hydraulic due to the confluence in a very flat topography of mayor drainage and confinements basins of the Orinoco River. Additional complexity is derived from a tidal system with back tides and varying tidal levels according to locations. Furthermore, previous studies have demonstrated that great extensions of these wetlands have several meters of peat accumulations, laid on top of sulphidic marine clays that can generate strong acidification problems if are drained and 1or exposed to oxidation. In order to solve this environmental constraints, allowing access without dredging and minimum perturbation of this substrates, a modular road concept was developed and tested in a swamp environment at the Caripito Oil Terminal (Monagas State), that uses a light concrete cylinder and other smaller components as building blocks. The cylinder of 860 Kg. and 0.7 m. of outer diameter has a length of 2.82m. An internal honeycomb structure allows for flotation. In order to test the concept a road of 50 m length was built using 270 cylinders placed over a swamp soil with a resistance of 0,18 Kg/cm2. A truck loaded with 100 ton. was passed over 110 times, and settling rates and road deformation was topographically measured. The road was subsequently dismounted and the cylinder inspected for fractures. No fractures were reported in any of the cylinders.

Expensive Environmental Data (ED) gathered in order to fulfill specific regulatory and permitting requirements is usually loose, unstructured and therefore difficult to analyze and use in Corporate Strategic Planning (CSP). Furthermore due to its purpose ED selection and gathering is seldom influenced by the ever increasing needs of CSP for reliable Environmental Information (EI) with a proper time and spatial frame. A framework to develop Environmental Information Models (EIM) that approaches this constraints and able to transform relevant Environmental Data into reliable Environmental Information is discussed. The framework is based on the previous efforts forwarded by Agencies like OECD and EPA to approach the development of EIM using meaningful categories of variables within each of the PSRE components and avoiding therefore the difficulties of Information Management based upon detailed and complex interaction models. The proposed framework also benefits from other approaches oriented to provide strategic Planning with additional measurements of Environmental direction and performance based on EIM. The framework is used to develop an EIM for the development of the oil resources to be found in Eastern Venezuela, as well as to provide proper Environmental Performance Measurements (EPM) suitable to CSP needs.