[ RadSafe ] Oilfield NORM

[Philip Egidi]

Just to update, Peter gray past away over a year ago.  There was one
contact to us state folks to continue sending updates, but to my
knowledge, the NORM report is currently dormant.

The tenorm.com web site is not dormant, but is somewhat stale.  The
webmaster does not spend enough time keeping it current, although it is
not for a lack of interest or material to update (since I am the
webmaster, I can make that observation).  We in Colorado are currently
undergoing a stakeholder process for TENORM in drinking water residuals
that will be the basis for whatever guidance and regulatory reform we
undertake in Colorado (which may be used as a basis for all forms of
NORM/TENORM).  Stay tuned.

Phil Egidi
Colorado

>>> "Jim Otton" <jkotton at usgs.gov> 08/15/05 09:58AM >>>
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 control 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




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