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Post by moabiter on Jun 18, 2010 21:28:46 GMT -8
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material in North American Oilfields A FACT SHEET FROM THE AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material - NORM) Exposures to Oilfield NORMOilfield NORM does not generally create exposures to oilfield workers because it accumulates inside pipe and other equipment that usually remain at production sites or equipment yards that are not open to the public. The pipe and equipment themselves are usually sufficient to shield anyone nearby from any radioactive hazard. Typically, such equipment is stored and cleaned only at facilities subject to licensing standards that strictly limit access. The practices followed at these cleaning facilities are designed to protect workers and the public from possible exposures. Protection of the Public from Oilfield NORMGenerally speaking, NORM located inside pipe and equipment does not pose a risk to the public at large or even those who work in close proximity to the pipe and equipment. The oil and gas industry, like any industry that generates NORM as part of its routine production operations, is subject to general radiation standards issued by federal and/or state agencies, such as state health departments that also regulate medical and other uses of radiation. Regulations of those agencies follow Environmental Protection Agency guidance on radiation protection of the public. www.chk.com/Media/CorpMediaKits/API_NORM_Fact_Sheet.pdf
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Post by moabiter on Sept 8, 2010 21:02:16 GMT -8
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 Is BP's Gulf Oil Radioactive? New Orleans attorney Stuart Smith knows something about radiation from oil drilling: Smith is well known for his role as lead counsel in an oilfield radiation case that resulted in a verdict of $1.056 billion against ExxonMobil for contaminating land it leased from the Grefer family in Harvey, Louisiana –– and attempting to cover it up.... However, for the clean up workers, and when it is concentrated in landfills, crude oil from the Gulf might be a real health threat. As Smith writes: This is all bad enough at the spill and cleanup sites, and it’s not nearly the near-term danger of all the toxins in the oil-dispersant stew. But it can become a danger when you start concentrating it in normal landfills. Remember, oil was exempted from hazmat regulations for political reasons, not because it’s not hazardous.www.washingtonsblog.com/2010/08/bps-crude-oil-may-be-radioactive.html
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Post by clone on Mar 1, 2011 13:52:16 GMT -8
The Oil and Gas Industry’s 800-Pound Gorilla: RADIATION March 1, 2011 8:08 am An odd sort of perfect storm – involving a high-profile New York Times energy series, a quirky documentary that just missed the Oscar and federal BP-spill recovery plans – may finally address the 800-pound gorilla of our nation’s energy policy: RADIATION. The NYT series launched Sunday (Feb. 27) with detailed accounts of radioactive wastewater, created by a Halliburton-developed extraction process called “fracking,” being dumped with impunity across the country. The article even included a “smoking gun” document, a “confidential industry study” from 1990 by none other than the American Petroleum Institute. The API’s secret study concluded that even with conservative assumptions, the radium in drilling wastewater dumped off the Louisiana coast posed “potentially significant risks” of cancer for anyone eating fish from those areas. I’m working on my own series of posts about this hazard in the Gulf of Mexico. oilspillaction.com/the-oil-and-gas-industrys-800-pound-gorilla-radiation
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