[ RadSafe ] Oilfield NORM

[Jim Otton]

Julian and all,

Oilfield NORM has had the attention of the USEPA (through its NORM task
group headed by Loren Setlow), DOE (principally through Karen Smith and
others at Argonne National Lab), USGS (through project work headed by me),
State radiation agencies, the IOGCC, the API (American Petroleum Institute)
and various consulting and cleanup firms for several years, although for
about the past five years there has been less activity on the topic.  For
several years, Peter Gray published "The NORM Report" which gave State
regulatory updates, tracked Federal agency activities, and noted
publications related to the topic, even discussing hormesis.  This
publication is no longer in print, and the last number I have is from August
2002. Many State agencies regulate oilfield NORM under a separate set of
regs, but others include oilfield NORM under their more generic rad regs.

USEPA
The EPA has not issued regulations regarding oilfield NORM, but has been
developing background information on the topic and has a series of scoping
documents on NORM, with oilfield NORM as one of the types considered.  The
most recent published scoping document was released in 1993.  More recent
documents have been prepared but not formally released.  Uranium mine waste
NORM has been the focus of much EPA effort for the past five years or so-
EPA will likely be issuing guidance for uranium mine waste cleanup within a
year.

DOE
DOE's National Petroleum Technology Laboratory funded oilfield NORM-related
studies by Argonne National Laboratory for several years and a series of
documents have been published by ANL.  Most of this information can be
reached through their webpage:
http://www.ead.anl.gov/project/dsp_topicdetail.cfm?topicid=16  They also
provide links to other entities with NORM info including the IOGCC webpage
cited by Syd Levine.

USGS
We have published several studies describing the nature and occurrence of
oilfield NORM at many sites across the U.S.  Also see the Fact Sheet at
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0142-99/fs-0142-99.pdf

IOGCC
The webpage cited by Syd has links that provide the most current regulatory
info by State.

API
See the following reports available from the API (www.api.org):
American Petroleum Institute, 1988, NORM regulatory analysis report: API
Task Group on Regulatory Analysis, API Ad Hoc Committee on Naturally
Occurring Radioactive Material

Otto, G.H., 1989, A national survey of naturally occurring radioactive
materials (NORM) in petroleum production and gas processing facilities:
American Petroleum Institute, Dallas, TX, 265 p.

American Petroleum Institute, 1991, Produced water radionuclide hazard/risk
assessment, Phase 1: Washington, D.C., Health and Environmental Sciences,
American Petroleum Institute Publication No. 4532, 160 p.

American Petroleum Institute, 1992, Bulletin on management of naturally
occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in oil & gas production: American
Petroleum Institute, Washington, D.C., API Bulletin E2, 45 p.

Jim Otton
USGS Energy Program