Subsurface formations may contain low levels of radioactive materials such as uranium and thorium and their daughter products, radium 226 and radium 228. These materials, called Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials or NORM, can be brought to the surface in the formation water that is produced in conjunction with oil and gas operations. NORM in these produced waters typically consists of the radionuclides, radium 226 and 228. In addition, radon gas, a radium daughter, may be found in produced natural gas. Because the levels typically are so low, the NORM in produced waters and natural gas is not a problem in Texas unless it becomes concentrated in some manner. Through temperature and pressure changes that occur in the course of oil and gas production operations, radium 226 and 228 found in produced waters may co-precipitate with barium sulfate scale in well tubulars and surface equipment. Concentrations of radium 226 and 228 may also occur in sludge that accumulates in oilfield pits and tanks. These solids become sources of oil and gas NORM waste. In gas processing activities, NORM generally occurs as radon gas in the natural gas stream. Radon decays to Lead-210, then to Bismuth-210, Polonium-210, and finally to stable Lead-206. Radon decay elements occur as a film on the inner surface of inlet lines, treating units, pumps, and valves principally associated with propylene, ethane, and propane processing streams. The highest risk of exposure to oil and gas NORM is to workers employed to cut and ream oilfield pipe, remove solids from tanks and pits, and refurbish gas processing equipment.
Regulatory programs for NORM are administered by both the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Railroad Commission (RRC). The DSHS regulates all activities, except disposal, involving management of NORM and NORM containing or contaminated materials. This includes jurisdiction over possession, use, transfer, transport, recycling, decontamination of equipment and facilities and/or storage of oil and gas NORM wastes, other than such activities when they occur at the site (e.g., lease, unit, or facility) where disposal of oil and gas NORM waste will occur. The DSHS’s radiological program protects the occupationally exposed as well as the public from unnecessary exposure to radiation. The DSHS regulations establish protection standards and requirements for management of NORM, other than disposal. The rules include exemption criteria for certain NORM containing or contaminated materials. Anyone managing NORM materials above the exemption levels must comply with certain standards.
The RRC has jurisdiction over disposal of oil and gas NORM waste and the management of NORM waste at an oil and gas property to facilitate disposal at the site. The RRC’s rules were developed in consultation with the DSHS regarding protection of public health and the environment. The relation of exposure pathways and the health risks relative to those pathways was DSHS’s basis for adopting the regulatory exemption levels. Likewise, the adoption of oil and gas NORM waste disposal options is a result of evaluation of the risk relative to each disposal method.
Each agency is responsible for enforcing its own rules; however agencies do communicate with each other on particular sites or issues as necessary and participate (along with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) in quarterly Texas Radiation Advisory Board (TRAB) meetings.
For background on oil and gas NORM you may also want to review the page found
here.