PA to Study Oil & Gas Development Radiation

Yesterday the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it will undertake a study to look at naturally occurring levels of radioactivity (NORM) in by-products associated with oil and natural gas development. The study, expected to take 12 to 14 months, will  sample and analyze NORM levels in flowback waters, treatment solids and drill cuttings, as well as associated matters such as the transportation, storage and disposal of drilling wastes.

SEP Secretary Mike Krancer told the press that, “This administration is undertaking what will be the most comprehensive study of its kind anywhere," characterizing the planned study as thorough and rigorous. “DEP’s current regulations and monitoring networks are designed to protect the public from exposure to unsafe levels of radiation, and our regulations in this field have led the nation for years,” he said.

DEP will collect samples of flowback water, rock cuttings, treatment solids and sediments at well pads and wastewater treatment and waste disposal facilities. The study will also analyze the radioactivity levels in pipes and well casings, storage tanks, treatment systems and trucks.

Throughout the study, DEP has promised to provide progress reports to its water, waste, radiation and citizens’ advisory councils.

The agency will consult with independent members of academia to peer review the project’s detailed study plan. Once the peer review is complete, DEP will publish the study plan on its website, where the agency’s proposal for the study is currently viewable.

NY Fracking Regs (proposed) on Radioactive Waste

Road spreading Marcellus well brine in PA (photo provided)

New York's proposed hydrofracking regulations mention  NORM (naturally occurring radioactive material) in section 560.7 Waste Management and Reclamation. According to the new regs, flowback fluids “must be tested for naturally occurring radioactive material prior to removal from the site”. Soils adjacent to tanks storing flowback and production brine must be measured as well.

But there is no requirement to track any radioactive waste fluids – nor is there anything requiring drilling companies to prevent the release of these radioactive substance into the environment in the first place – something Sandra Steingraber notes in today’s entry at 30 Days of Fracking Regs. As she notes, radioactive waste could be stored as close as 500 feet to a home or school, possibly closer to playgrounds and soccer fields, and definitely much closer to barns, pastures and fields where our food is grown.

Four years ago the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) submitted 13 brine samples from twelve actively-producing Marcellus wells. Test results (appendix 13) showed that some brines had levels of radium-226 as high as 250 times the allowable level for discharge into the environment and thousands of times higher than the maximum allowed in drinking water.

 

Radioactivity in Marcellus shale shows up as trace elements uranium-238, thorium-232, radium-222, radium-226, and radium-228. Over time these radioactive particles decay, with half-lives anywhere from 4 days to 1600 years. Exposure to some radionuclides – even at low levels – can cause bone cancer, stomach and lung cancers and other health problems. Radon gas, long known to be associated with Marcellus shale, has been shown to be the primary cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked. So the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established guidelines for certain radionuclides: the maximum contaminant level of radium in drinking water as 5 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), for uranium is 30 pCi/L and for the total alpha emitters is 15 pCi/L. They've also established levels that can be put into the environment: the maximum level of radium-226 allowed to be discharged in wastewater is 60 pCi/L and the maximum levels in soil are 5 pCi/g on the surface and 15 pCi/g in subsurface soils.

But in some of the Marcellus brines, DEC found levels of radium-226 ranging up to 16,030 pCi/L - more than 3200 times higher than the allowable levels in groundwater and 267 times higher than what’s allowed to be discharged into streams.

On December 30, 2009 Region 2 of the EPA sent 17 pages of formal comments to DEC regarding proposed rules in the SGEIS for drilling in Marcellus and shales. Included in those comments are concerns regarding the management of  NORM. EPA noted that NORM concentrations in production brine of Marcellus wells have the potential to far exceed the Maximum Contamination Limits (MCLs) specified in the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). They also question the inconsistency of reporting concentration levels; levels of some radionuclides are reported in pico-Curies per gram (pCi/g) while others are reported in parts per million (ppm). Using ppm as an analytical tool could "significantly underestimate the uranium concentrations," says EPA.

Radioactive Water Safe, says PA DEP

The recent NY Times series on fracking got everyone’s attention. This morning the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that river water downstream of Marcellus water treatment plants is “safe” – at least according to results from in-stream water quality monitoring for radioactive material in seven rivers.

“All samples showed levels at or below the normal naturally occurring background levels of radioactivity,” Southwest Regional Office spokesperson Katy Gresh wrote in the press release.

The tests were conducted in November and December of 2010 at stations downstream of wastewater treatment plants that accept flowback and production water from Marcellus Shale drilling.

“We deal in facts based on sound science,” said DEP acting Secretary Michael Krancer. “Here are the facts: all samples were at or below background levels of radioactivity; and all samples showed levels below the federal drinking water standard for Radium 226 and 228.”

The press release did not list the test results and gave not links to documents. Nor did DEP compare how the levels they tested compare to federal drinking water standards. Krancer did say, however, that the sampling stations were installed last fall specifically to monitor stream quality for potential impacts of Marcellus development.

Krancer explained that the water tested is the raw water in the river before it enters public water suppliers’ intakes where the water receives further treatment. The following rivers were tested:

• Monongahela at Charleroi in Washington County
• South Fork Ten Mile Creek in Greene County
• Conemaugh in Indiana County
• Allegheny at Kennerdell in Venango County
• Beaver in Beaver County
• Tioga in Tioga County
• West Branch of the Susquehanna in Lycoming County

You may read the DEP release here.

Radioactive Drilling Waste Coming to a Landfill Near You

Last month the Chemung County Legislature voted to allow the landfill to accept more waste - an extra 60,000 tons a year. The landowners bordering the landfill have already complained about odor, noise, rats and the ever-increasing population of gulls.

And now families living near the landfill have one more thing to worry about: potentially radioactive drill cuttings from wells drilled into Marcellus Shale. "The county landfill is a municipal solid waste disposal facility," one resident pointed out at recent hearing. "It's not adequate for hazardous waste, and disposal of radioactive waste is not allowed in municipal facilities." In fact, he pointed out, if it weren’t for the exemptions the oil and gas industry enjoys, the drill cuttings and other Marcellus waste would be classified as “hazardous”.

Seems that over the past few months the landfill has been accepting drill cuttings from Marcellus wells drilled in Pennsylvania. Aside from filling up the landfill faster, the county executives don't see anything wrong with allowing drill cuttings in the landfill. As one of them said to the press, "It's just wet soil."

The problem is that the Marcellus drilling waste contains radioactive elements: barium, strontium, radon. In fact, that's how drillers know they've found the Marcellus layer when they're drilling, explained one resident: the Geiger counter goes wacky. 

Granted, the landfill has a liner - well, at least the more recent part of the landfill. But what happens if that liner rips? What happens if the heavy metals and radioactive isotopes leach into the surrounding soil or even the aquifer that lies only a few feet below the landfill? The resulting contamination could affect people far beyond Chemung County.

Earlier in the evening Larry Shilling, a district manager for Casella (the company operating the landfill), acknowledged the lack of information about the levels of radioactivity in Marcellus drill cuttings. He passed out copies of a laboratory analysis that Casella had requested.    

"The information we saw indicate radiation would not be an issue,” Shilling said. According to the Casella-commissioned study the level of radiation in the drill cuttings ranged from 2.1 pico Curies/gram (pCi/g) for Radium-226 to 14.2 pCi/g for Potassium-40. Background levels for local soil and rock are 0.9 pCi/g for Radium-226 and 24.1 pCi/g for potassium. Shilling emphasized that these levels fall below the EPA cleanup guidelines for unrestrictive use (5 pCi/g above background).  

 However another study conducted by Radioactive Waste Management Associates (RWMA) recommends against land-filling Marcellus drill cuttings and waste. Their analysis of rock cuttings from NY wells found Radium concentrations of 12 to 24 pCi/g or higher. Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, who authored the analysis, expressed concerns regarding the potential for radioactive isotopes to leach from the landfill, pass through the Elmira wastewater treatment plant and contaminate the Chemung River.

Apparently the NY Department of Environmental Conservation wants to know more. Last week Gary Maslanka, environmental engineer from DEC Region 8 Division of Solid and Hazardous Materials, sent a letter to Casella requesting further information about some of the drilling waste they have accepted. Casella accepted waste from two spills at Marcellus sites in PA, and DEC wants analytical analysis of samples taken from the waste prior to its disposal. DEC also asked for a radiological analysis. Casella has until June 1 to respond.

Radioactivity Present in Marcellus Brines

When you buy a home in upstate NY, one of the things you do as a matter of course is test for radon. That's because many of the rock layers beneath our homes contain naturally occurring radioactive material - "NORM" for short. And for years the NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has held the view that normal disturbances of NORM-rock, such as mining and drilling, do not generally pose a threat to workers or the general public.

But recent tests of brine from Marcellus wells may change that.  In October 2008 and April 2009 the DEC submitted 13 brine samples from twelve Marcellus wells that were actively producing gas last year. Test results came back with higher than expected levels of NORM. Some brines had levels of radium-226 as high as 250 times the allowable level for discharge into the environment and thousands of times higher than the maximum allowed in drinking water. 

Radioactivity in Shale

Radioactivity in Marcellus shale, present as trace elements uranium-238, thorium-232, radium-222, radium-226, and radium-228, is not uniform; it varies from place to place. Over time these radioactive particles decay, with half-lives anywhere from 4 days to 1600 years. And while some exposure to radiation is unavoidable - we're all exposed to a certain amount of background radiation - it doesn't necessarily mean it's harmless.

Exposure to some radionuclides – even at low levels – can cause bone cancer, stomach and lung cancers and other health problems. Radon gas, long known to be associated with Marcellus shale, has been shown to be the primary cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked.

So the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established guidelines for certain radionuclides: the maximum contaminant level of radium in drinking water as 5 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), for uranium is 30 pCi/L and for the total alpha emitters is 15 pCi/L. They've also established levels that can be put into the environment: the maximum level of radium-226 allowed to be discharged in wastewater is 60 pCi/L and the maximum levels in soil are 5 pCi/g on the surface and 15 pCi/g in subsurface soils.

But in some of the Marcellus brines,  DEC found levels of radium-226 ranging up to 16,030 pCi/L - more than 3200 times higher than the allowable levels in groundwater and 267 times higher than what’s allowed to be discharged into streams. 

Radioactive Waste

These higher-than-expected levels of radionuclides does present a problem, given that the current waste treatment option for gas well brines is to transport them to a public wastewater treatment facility. And this past summer the New York State Department of Health (DOH) raised those concerns. According to a report by ProPublica, the DOH sent a letter to DEC warning of public health issues related to disposing of the drilling waste. Wastewater treatment plants will need to do more thorough testing before accepting drilling fluids, noted DOH, and workers may need to be monitored for radiation in much the same way as workers at nuclear facilities.

Four of the twelve or so active Marcellus wells in NY are operated by Fortuna, and all four of those wells are located in the little town of Orange, in Schuyler County. Given the relatively low volume of wastewater of the current vertical wells - compared to what’s expected from the horizontal Marcellus wells - and given the lack of local industrial wastewater treatment facilities, it is unclear how the gas companies expect to deal with disposal of Marcellus brines.

But one thing is certain: the DEC has not set out any rules regulating radionuclides. Instead, they will run another series of tests, says DEC spokesman Yancey Roy. Rick Kessey, an engineer at Fortuna, agrees that more tests are needed. The DEC’s test results aren’t wrong, Kessey said, but they do seem “out of whack” with previous tests.

Meanwhile, the Marcellus wastewater has to go somewhere. In the past, DEC has allowed brine to be spread on roads to help melt snow and keep down the dust. But public comments at DEC hearings and the recent Marcellus Shale summit held in Owego earlier this week indicate that people aren't comfortable with the idea of "hot salt" on their roads.

There's another problem, too, says Roy. The DEC is concerned about the potential buildup of radioactivity in scale inside casings, pipes and other drilling equipment. That equipment may have to be monitored, Roy said. In addition, the DEC is concerned about potential accumulation of NORM in the sludge from treated wastewater. Radioactive waste can’t be dumped in any municipal landfill in New York State, so that means shipping the waste to Utah, Idaho or other western states that have licensed disposal facilities. 

You can read the results of the brine tests yourself in Appendix 13 of the DEC’s Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement -click on Appendices part 1.
added December 21: You can read more about radioactivity in brines in this article from Broader View Weekly.