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Environmental, safety experts work to raise awareness of NORM
by Mella McEwen
Midland Reporter-Telegram
New workers, spotlight on industry raise concern about naturally-occurring radioactive materials
By Mella McEwen
Oil Editor
An influx of new, inexperienced workers into the oilpatch, along with an increasingly intense spotlight on industry practices has raised concern about Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM).
The subject was the focus of a recent meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers' Environmental Study Group.
"This is an issue not a lot of people know about," said Geri Cooley, regulatory affairs and Health, Environment and Safety manager for Lotus LLC in Andrews. "People get confused when they hear the word 'radiation,' they get scared, they think of disaster movies."
Cooley, who is also corporate radiation safety officer at her company and president of the Permian Basin chapter, American Society of Safety Engineers, said NORM is found in different industries, not just oil and gas production.
"What happens is, uranium and thorium are the parent producers of Radium 226, Radium 228 and Radon 222 gas. They're found in abundance in the Earth's crust and leach into reservoirs. In drilling a well, it's brought to the surface where it accumulates and becomes concentrated."
She stressed that NORM is the lowest level radiation there is and no health cases of cancer or other issues related to NORM have been reported to date. Still, she acknowledged, "With NORM, we know it's radiation and we know what radiation does to the body. Just because there's no effects now, we don't know what it does to the body in the future."
Because NORM is low-level radiation, it is overseen by the state, she said, with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Agency overseeing high-level radiation issues. In Texas, NORM is overseen by three agencies: The Railroad Commission, Department of Health Services and Department of Transportation.
The most recent regulations regarding NORM were issued in 2005 when the Railroad Commission, which oversees disposal of NORM-contimanated equipment, required all operators, producers and pipe yards to mark NORM-contaminated equipment as having NORM and make the signs conspicuous to workers.
The Department of Health Services, Cooley said, requires producers to protect the workers by having them wear protection, securing the areas and posting signs, "which they do anyway." If NORM reaches certain levels, she said, workers may be limited in the time they spend around the equipment.
After comments from the industry, she said DHS regulations provided for routine maintenance of equipment. Now, she said, generally-licensed companies can clean their own equipment using their own employees as long as they do not change pathways on the equipment, which would expose workers to NORM. Otherwise, they have to use companies, like Lotus, which have received specific licenses from the state to clean and maintain NORM-contaminated equipment.
There can be risks associated with NORM, Cooley said, 'but there are other parts of the industry that are more dangerous."
Mella McEwen can be reached at casell@mrt.com.
By Mella McEwen
Oil Editor
An influx of new, inexperienced workers into the oilpatch, along with an increasingly intense spotlight on industry practices has raised concern about Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM).
The subject was the focus of a recent meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers' Environmental Study Group.
"This is an issue not a lot of people know about," said Geri Cooley, regulatory affairs and Health, Environment and Safety manager for Lotus LLC in Andrews. "People get confused when they hear the word 'radiation,' they get scared, they think of disaster movies."
Cooley, who is also corporate radiation safety officer at her company and president of the Permian Basin chapter, American Society of Safety Engineers, said NORM is found in different industries, not just oil and gas production.
"What happens is, uranium and thorium are the parent producers of Radium 226, Radium 228 and Radon 222 gas. They're found in abundance in the Earth's crust and leach into reservoirs. In drilling a well, it's brought to the surface where it accumulates and becomes concentrated."
She stressed that NORM is the lowest level radiation there is and no health cases of cancer or other issues related to NORM have been reported to date. Still, she acknowledged, "With NORM, we know it's radiation and we know what radiation does to the body. Just because there's no effects now, we don't know what it does to the body in the future."
Because NORM is low-level radiation, it is overseen by the state, she said, with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Agency overseeing high-level radiation issues. In Texas, NORM is overseen by three agencies: The Railroad Commission, Department of Health Services and Department of Transportation.
The most recent regulations regarding NORM were issued in 2005 when the Railroad Commission, which oversees disposal of NORM-contimanated equipment, required all operators, producers and pipe yards to mark NORM-contaminated equipment as having NORM and make the signs conspicuous to workers.
The Department of Health Services, Cooley said, requires producers to protect the workers by having them wear protection, securing the areas and posting signs, "which they do anyway." If NORM reaches certain levels, she said, workers may be limited in the time they spend around the equipment.
After comments from the industry, she said DHS regulations provided for routine maintenance of equipment. Now, she said, generally-licensed companies can clean their own equipment using their own employees as long as they do not change pathways on the equipment, which would expose workers to NORM. Otherwise, they have to use companies, like Lotus, which have received specific licenses from the state to clean and maintain NORM-contaminated equipment.
There can be risks associated with NORM, Cooley said, 'but there are other parts of the industry that are more dangerous."
Mella McEwen can be reached at casell@mrt.com.
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