T
Tim Campbell
Guest
Sunday, November 11, 2007
By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe / Staff Writer
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a series of four stories on
radioactive material generated by natural gas production in the
Barnett
Shale.
Blasted free by millions of gallons of fresh water and chemical soup
sent
miles below ground, some of Earth's baddest geological actors -
radioactive elements capable of scarring soil and scourging human
health -
are slowly rising to the surface along with the Barnett Shale's
natural
gas.
Once above ground, if they can stay afloat, they continue to travel
suspended in the water produced from the well. Otherwise, they fall
from
their own weight and accumulate.
They crystallize as shiny black scales on tubular steel. Or cake in
layers
of whitish-brown sludge at the bottom of tanks and separators.
Eventually,
they can crust over gas production fixtures like a rusted hot-water
heater
about to flood the house.
Yet licensed decontamination workers wait for the phone to ring.
Statewide, 140 such sites were decontaminated from January 2005 to the
present, according to documents obtained from the Department of State
Health Services, which oversees decontamination of the state's hottest
radioactive waste.
Moreover, 25 of those decontamination sites were in Denton, Tarrant
and
Wise counties, the core counties of the Barnett Shale. The cleanups
signal
that fracing - short for fracturing, the water-guzzling process that
busts
the gas out of the shale - could be pulling up much more than energy
companies bargained for, experts say.
Known as technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive
material, or NORM, the residue can be the most toxic waste that oil
and
gas production generates.
The risk to human health and the environment varies widely. Small
concentrations of NORM provide less exposure than even a dental X-ray.
But
when allowed to accumulate in greater concentrations, especially with
poor
monitoring and containment practices, NORM can hurt people and the
environment as any radioactive waste can.
Few researchers have traced the residue's radioactive trail. Pete
Ramirez
of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Wyoming found radium from
drilling activities in the bones of ducks captured in contaminated
wetlands there. He couldn't say what long-term implications that had
for
the ducks or how that translated to human health.
But, he said, "I wouldn't want to live next to it."
In Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties, all kinds of equipment - from
pipes
and separators to frac and brine-hauling tanks - have been
decontaminated
in the past two years.
Texas Railroad Commission rules allow the industry to self-monitor for
NORM, and many operators are slow to decontaminate the radioactive
residue
because of its cost, industry insiders say. Furthermore, only two of
nearly 200 operators registered with the commission in the Barnett
Shale's
core counties - Key Energy Services and Devon Energy - have provided
for
such decontamination in the past two years.
Hot waste
In the Barnett Shale, everything from equipment to producing well
sites is
being decontaminated. At most area well sites, decontamination workers
cleaned and disposed of 10 barrels of radioactive residue or less.
(One
barrel equals about 42 gallons.) However, in places where equipment
has
been stored, or production waste has accumulated, the cleanups have
been
much larger.
Based in Andrews and one of a dozen Texas firms licensed to
decontaminate
radioactive waste, Lotus disposed of 100 barrels of contaminated
material
from Devon's Bridgeport pipe yard in February 2006 in Lotus disposal
facilities.
In October 2006, Lotus workers made an emergency cleanup around a
leaking
vessel at Devon's North Tarrant saltwater disposal well in Saginaw.
They
removed about 105 barrels of radioactive residue.
Doug Bridwell, an environmental and health specialist for Devon
Energy's
central division, said the tank involved in the spill was inside a
secondary containment area, which is designed to prevent soil
contamination.
"It [the NORM] was all picked up within that lined dike," Bridwell
said.
"But not all operators work like that."
The largest Barnett Shale decontamination to date occurred at Key
Energy
Services' Chico storage yard. Houston-based Soloco, another licensed
decontamination firm, cleaned up more than 40 different tanks,
including
frac and brine-hauling tanks, hauling the hot waste for licensed
underground disposal in Big Hill in November 2006.
Ken Houston, vice president of health, safety and environmental for
Key
Energy Services, said the cleanup and disposal contract cost $120,000,
not
counting labor and materials on Key's part.
Key has acquired more than 100 smaller companies in the last 15 years
- a
lot of them "as is," he said. "When we recognized an existing issue,
we've
taken an effort and expended the cost to clean it up."
The known number of decontaminated sites in the Barnett Shale exceeded
those in Panola County, although the total amount of hot waste was
less.
Workers in Panola County have cleaned up several thousand barrels of
hot
waste from 24 different sites in the past two years. Meanwhile, the
Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Railroad Commission continue
to
wrestle with large-scale contamination of the soil and drinking water
there.
Not normal
Radium-226 and radium-228 are the two most common elements to travel
up
gas and oil wells. Both emit alpha particles and gamma radiation as
they
decay. Radon gas, the second leading cause of lung cancer, also is
emitted
as they decay.
Radium and other NORM often come up with oil, but typically not with
natural gas, according to James Otton, a geologist with the U.S.
Geological Survey who has studied radium contamination. However, the
more
water is used to mine the gas, the more likely operators are to bring
up
NORM.
Unlike most natural gas mining, which produces little water as a
byproduct, Barnett Shale gas mining uses and produces about as much
wastewater as oilfields do. A median 1,638 gallons of wastewater is
produced per thousand cubic feet of Barnett Shale gas, according to
U.S.
Geological Survey data. Denton County gas wells produce 36 percent
more
wastewater than the Barnett median, or a median 2,226 gallons, for
every
thousand cubic feet of gas.
Other factors also can predict whether concentrated levels of radium
or
other radioactive material will be produced along with the gas, Otton
said.
One factor is that organic-rich shale such as the Barnett Shale has
higher levels of uranium. Another factor is the high level of salt in
the
wastewater produced along with the gas. As a gas well is producing,
the
variable pressure also helps free NORM from the shale, bond with other
elements, such as barite and calcium carbonate, and travel to the
surface
along with the gas.
Operators should regularly survey their equipment for NORM, according
to
Gerri Cooley, a health physicist with Lotus. Typically, operators
decontaminate production equipment that gets plugged with the residue
if
they need to use the equipment. Otherwise, the pipes and tanks sit in
storage until needed.
But because proper disposal is expensive, some operators put off
dealing
with it.
"They are somewhat slow to call [us]," said Kenny Ryan, operations
manager
for Soloco.
In addition to charges for cleaning up and hauling the waste,
operators
must pay upward of $300 a barrel for proper disposal, Ryan said. Both
Soloco and Lotus have disposal facilities as well as cleanup crews.
Exposure
Health experts are still learning about the long-term effects of low-
level
radiation exposure, said Evan Douple, director of radiation-effects
research at the National Academy of Science National Research Council.
People are exposed to radiation every day in myriad different ways,
some
of it innocuous and some harmful.
Over the past 40 years, the council has published seven reports on the
biological effects of ionizing radiation, much of it learned from
studying
the survivors of the atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Japan,
more than 60 years ago.
A person can get a whole-body dose of radiation by standing near a
contaminated site that is emitting alpha particles or gamma rays. A
person
can also get a dose by ingesting or breathing in particulate, Douple
said.
While risk of exposure can be highest for oilfield workers, that risk
can
be managed as long as workers' doses are measured, Douple said.
However, for the general public, exposure requirements are stricter
because the circumstances are less controlled.
"The materials need to be handled and properly removed to keep
people's
exposure to a minimum," Douple said.
PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address
is
pheinkel-wolfe@ dentonrc. com.
BARNETT SHALE BY THE NUMBERS
Cubic feet of gas produced in the Barnett Shale since 2000: 2.6
trillion
Thousand cubic feet of gas produced in Denton County in 2007:
884,662,302
Median gallons of water produced per thousand cubic feet of gas in
Denton
County: 2,226
Barrels of NORM waste removed from Denton County since 2005: about 85
Disposal cost per barrel: $150 to $300
Number of permitted gas well operators in Denton County: 67
Number of Denton County gas well operators cleaning up high-level
NORM: 1
SOURCES: Argonne National Laboratory, Texas Railroad Commission, Texas
Department of Health Services and U.S. Geological Survey
NORM 101
Radioactive material is present in soils and rocks, but it can become
concentrated to troublesome levels by oil and gas mining, hence the
name
technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material, or
NORM.
NORM is least likely to be found when a gas well is first drilled.
However, over the life of a producing well, both down the hole and in
the
mazes of pipes and equipment connected to it, NORM can crystallize on
equipment and continue its radioactive decay series, including
leaching
onto the soil.
Opinions vary on the risk NORM presents to the environment, but
experts
agree that people, plants and animals can be affected by NORM in two
ways
- directly through ionizing radiation if standing near a contaminated
site, or indirectly by inhaling or ingesting particulate that travels
from
the site. In addition, structures built over NORM-contaminated soils
can
concentrate radon to unhealthy levels. Once in the lungs, radon
continues
to decay inside lung tissue. Radon is second leading cause of lung
cancer.
Radium-226 and radium-228 are the most likely radioactive daughters to
travel up with the water produced in oil and gas mining, but
decontamination of other radionuclides in Texas in the past two years
has
included lead, bismuth and polonium-210.
Proper disposal of NORM is expensive. A recent study by the Society of
Petroleum Engineers found that, if assessment and cleanup of NORM were
strictly regulated, it would make some oil and gas production
uneconomic.
SOURCES: Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Denton Record-Chronicle
research
http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedconte nt/dws/drc/ localnews/ stories/
DRC_ NORM1_11- 11.1fb48b711. html
By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe / Staff Writer
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first in a series of four stories on
radioactive material generated by natural gas production in the
Barnett
Shale.
Blasted free by millions of gallons of fresh water and chemical soup
sent
miles below ground, some of Earth's baddest geological actors -
radioactive elements capable of scarring soil and scourging human
health -
are slowly rising to the surface along with the Barnett Shale's
natural
gas.
Once above ground, if they can stay afloat, they continue to travel
suspended in the water produced from the well. Otherwise, they fall
from
their own weight and accumulate.
They crystallize as shiny black scales on tubular steel. Or cake in
layers
of whitish-brown sludge at the bottom of tanks and separators.
Eventually,
they can crust over gas production fixtures like a rusted hot-water
heater
about to flood the house.
Yet licensed decontamination workers wait for the phone to ring.
Statewide, 140 such sites were decontaminated from January 2005 to the
present, according to documents obtained from the Department of State
Health Services, which oversees decontamination of the state's hottest
radioactive waste.
Moreover, 25 of those decontamination sites were in Denton, Tarrant
and
Wise counties, the core counties of the Barnett Shale. The cleanups
signal
that fracing - short for fracturing, the water-guzzling process that
busts
the gas out of the shale - could be pulling up much more than energy
companies bargained for, experts say.
Known as technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive
material, or NORM, the residue can be the most toxic waste that oil
and
gas production generates.
The risk to human health and the environment varies widely. Small
concentrations of NORM provide less exposure than even a dental X-ray.
But
when allowed to accumulate in greater concentrations, especially with
poor
monitoring and containment practices, NORM can hurt people and the
environment as any radioactive waste can.
Few researchers have traced the residue's radioactive trail. Pete
Ramirez
of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Wyoming found radium from
drilling activities in the bones of ducks captured in contaminated
wetlands there. He couldn't say what long-term implications that had
for
the ducks or how that translated to human health.
But, he said, "I wouldn't want to live next to it."
In Denton, Tarrant and Wise counties, all kinds of equipment - from
pipes
and separators to frac and brine-hauling tanks - have been
decontaminated
in the past two years.
Texas Railroad Commission rules allow the industry to self-monitor for
NORM, and many operators are slow to decontaminate the radioactive
residue
because of its cost, industry insiders say. Furthermore, only two of
nearly 200 operators registered with the commission in the Barnett
Shale's
core counties - Key Energy Services and Devon Energy - have provided
for
such decontamination in the past two years.
Hot waste
In the Barnett Shale, everything from equipment to producing well
sites is
being decontaminated. At most area well sites, decontamination workers
cleaned and disposed of 10 barrels of radioactive residue or less.
(One
barrel equals about 42 gallons.) However, in places where equipment
has
been stored, or production waste has accumulated, the cleanups have
been
much larger.
Based in Andrews and one of a dozen Texas firms licensed to
decontaminate
radioactive waste, Lotus disposed of 100 barrels of contaminated
material
from Devon's Bridgeport pipe yard in February 2006 in Lotus disposal
facilities.
In October 2006, Lotus workers made an emergency cleanup around a
leaking
vessel at Devon's North Tarrant saltwater disposal well in Saginaw.
They
removed about 105 barrels of radioactive residue.
Doug Bridwell, an environmental and health specialist for Devon
Energy's
central division, said the tank involved in the spill was inside a
secondary containment area, which is designed to prevent soil
contamination.
"It [the NORM] was all picked up within that lined dike," Bridwell
said.
"But not all operators work like that."
The largest Barnett Shale decontamination to date occurred at Key
Energy
Services' Chico storage yard. Houston-based Soloco, another licensed
decontamination firm, cleaned up more than 40 different tanks,
including
frac and brine-hauling tanks, hauling the hot waste for licensed
underground disposal in Big Hill in November 2006.
Ken Houston, vice president of health, safety and environmental for
Key
Energy Services, said the cleanup and disposal contract cost $120,000,
not
counting labor and materials on Key's part.
Key has acquired more than 100 smaller companies in the last 15 years
- a
lot of them "as is," he said. "When we recognized an existing issue,
we've
taken an effort and expended the cost to clean it up."
The known number of decontaminated sites in the Barnett Shale exceeded
those in Panola County, although the total amount of hot waste was
less.
Workers in Panola County have cleaned up several thousand barrels of
hot
waste from 24 different sites in the past two years. Meanwhile, the
Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Railroad Commission continue
to
wrestle with large-scale contamination of the soil and drinking water
there.
Not normal
Radium-226 and radium-228 are the two most common elements to travel
up
gas and oil wells. Both emit alpha particles and gamma radiation as
they
decay. Radon gas, the second leading cause of lung cancer, also is
emitted
as they decay.
Radium and other NORM often come up with oil, but typically not with
natural gas, according to James Otton, a geologist with the U.S.
Geological Survey who has studied radium contamination. However, the
more
water is used to mine the gas, the more likely operators are to bring
up
NORM.
Unlike most natural gas mining, which produces little water as a
byproduct, Barnett Shale gas mining uses and produces about as much
wastewater as oilfields do. A median 1,638 gallons of wastewater is
produced per thousand cubic feet of Barnett Shale gas, according to
U.S.
Geological Survey data. Denton County gas wells produce 36 percent
more
wastewater than the Barnett median, or a median 2,226 gallons, for
every
thousand cubic feet of gas.
Other factors also can predict whether concentrated levels of radium
or
other radioactive material will be produced along with the gas, Otton
said.
One factor is that organic-rich shale such as the Barnett Shale has
higher levels of uranium. Another factor is the high level of salt in
the
wastewater produced along with the gas. As a gas well is producing,
the
variable pressure also helps free NORM from the shale, bond with other
elements, such as barite and calcium carbonate, and travel to the
surface
along with the gas.
Operators should regularly survey their equipment for NORM, according
to
Gerri Cooley, a health physicist with Lotus. Typically, operators
decontaminate production equipment that gets plugged with the residue
if
they need to use the equipment. Otherwise, the pipes and tanks sit in
storage until needed.
But because proper disposal is expensive, some operators put off
dealing
with it.
"They are somewhat slow to call [us]," said Kenny Ryan, operations
manager
for Soloco.
In addition to charges for cleaning up and hauling the waste,
operators
must pay upward of $300 a barrel for proper disposal, Ryan said. Both
Soloco and Lotus have disposal facilities as well as cleanup crews.
Exposure
Health experts are still learning about the long-term effects of low-
level
radiation exposure, said Evan Douple, director of radiation-effects
research at the National Academy of Science National Research Council.
People are exposed to radiation every day in myriad different ways,
some
of it innocuous and some harmful.
Over the past 40 years, the council has published seven reports on the
biological effects of ionizing radiation, much of it learned from
studying
the survivors of the atomic bomb blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki,
Japan,
more than 60 years ago.
A person can get a whole-body dose of radiation by standing near a
contaminated site that is emitting alpha particles or gamma rays. A
person
can also get a dose by ingesting or breathing in particulate, Douple
said.
While risk of exposure can be highest for oilfield workers, that risk
can
be managed as long as workers' doses are measured, Douple said.
However, for the general public, exposure requirements are stricter
because the circumstances are less controlled.
"The materials need to be handled and properly removed to keep
people's
exposure to a minimum," Douple said.
PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address
is
pheinkel-wolfe@ dentonrc. com.
BARNETT SHALE BY THE NUMBERS
Cubic feet of gas produced in the Barnett Shale since 2000: 2.6
trillion
Thousand cubic feet of gas produced in Denton County in 2007:
884,662,302
Median gallons of water produced per thousand cubic feet of gas in
Denton
County: 2,226
Barrels of NORM waste removed from Denton County since 2005: about 85
Disposal cost per barrel: $150 to $300
Number of permitted gas well operators in Denton County: 67
Number of Denton County gas well operators cleaning up high-level
NORM: 1
SOURCES: Argonne National Laboratory, Texas Railroad Commission, Texas
Department of Health Services and U.S. Geological Survey
NORM 101
Radioactive material is present in soils and rocks, but it can become
concentrated to troublesome levels by oil and gas mining, hence the
name
technologically enhanced, naturally occurring radioactive material, or
NORM.
NORM is least likely to be found when a gas well is first drilled.
However, over the life of a producing well, both down the hole and in
the
mazes of pipes and equipment connected to it, NORM can crystallize on
equipment and continue its radioactive decay series, including
leaching
onto the soil.
Opinions vary on the risk NORM presents to the environment, but
experts
agree that people, plants and animals can be affected by NORM in two
ways
- directly through ionizing radiation if standing near a contaminated
site, or indirectly by inhaling or ingesting particulate that travels
from
the site. In addition, structures built over NORM-contaminated soils
can
concentrate radon to unhealthy levels. Once in the lungs, radon
continues
to decay inside lung tissue. Radon is second leading cause of lung
cancer.
Radium-226 and radium-228 are the most likely radioactive daughters to
travel up with the water produced in oil and gas mining, but
decontamination of other radionuclides in Texas in the past two years
has
included lead, bismuth and polonium-210.
Proper disposal of NORM is expensive. A recent study by the Society of
Petroleum Engineers found that, if assessment and cleanup of NORM were
strictly regulated, it would make some oil and gas production
uneconomic.
SOURCES: Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Denton Record-Chronicle
research
http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedconte nt/dws/drc/ localnews/ stories/
DRC_ NORM1_11- 11.1fb48b711. html