NORM is an acronym for Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material, which includes all radioactive elements found in the environment. Long-lived radioactive elements such as uranium, thorium and potassium and any of their decay products, such as radium and radon. These elements have always been present in the earth's crust and within tissues of all living beings.
Although the concentration of NORM in most natural substances is low, higher concentrations may arise as a result of human activities. For example radium may be precipitated out in scale that forms in a natural gas processing pipe or radon decay products may concentrate on the turbine blades of a natural gas pump. This enhancement of natural radioactivity has been found in:
* Petroleum and natural gas production * Mineral extraction and processing * Metal recycling * Forest products and thermal - electric production * Water treatment facilities * Tunneling and underground workings
CNSC & NORM Guidelines
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), formally the Atomic Energy Control Board, has legislative control of nuclear fuel cycle materials and man made radio-nuclides. NORM materials are exempt from CNSC regulatory control except for the purposes of transportation, import, and export. Norm are regulated in British Columbia by the Ministry of Land, Air and Waste in the Waste Discharge Regulation of the Environmental Management Act (B.C. Reg. 320/2004).
Alberta and British Columbia are in the process of developing clear guidelines governing the disposal of NORM wastes. An Alberta Energy Utilities Board-chaired technical committee comprising government and industry representatives was formed to examine safe and practical options for the management of NORM waste. The British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection, Environmental Protection division, the BC Centre for Disease Control, Radiation Protection Program and the Oil and Gas Commission participated on this committee. In Alberta, the EUB is inviting comment on this technical report and suggestions for alternative approaches relative to the technical aspects presented. The report is available for review on the EUB Web site as Technical Report on the Management of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) in Waste. The BC government is also requesting comment on this report, to be forwarded by April 29, 2005 to Del.Reinheimer*gems5.gov.bc.ca or by mail to the Environmental Protection Program, 1011 Fourth Avenue, Prince George, BC, V2L 3H9. Please include the subject heading, "NORM Technical Report Feedback".
National guidelines for management of NORM have been developed under the direction of the Federal Provincial Territorial Radiation Committee and published by Radiation Protection - Health Canada at Canadian Guidelines for the Management of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (PDF 991 Kb).
WCB Regulations
In British Columbia the Workers' Compensation Board's regulates the protection of workers from radiation hazards including NORM.
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Oil and gas production and processing operations sometimes cause naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) to accumulate at elevated concentrations in by-product waste streams. Regulations governing the management of NORM-containing wastes have been evolving at the state level, resulting in increased waste management costs for the petroleum Industry. EAD has been conducting studies to assess the potential human health risks associated with petroleum industry NORM, estimate the economic impacts associated with different management options, and develop and/or disseminate tools that will streamline oil and gas companies' efforts to manage NORM-containing wastes. EAD has completed radiological risk assessments on a variety of NORM management and disposal options, including underground injection into subsurface formations and salt caverns, landspreading, placement in nonhazardous landfills, and remelting of NORM-contaminated scrap equipment. The results of these assessments have been documented in numerous publications (see EAD Publications on Topic below).
In addition, EAD developed the NORM Technology Connection website to provide the petroleum industry streamlined access to information relevant to NORM management. The site was developed with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Petroleum Technology Office and is being hosted by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.
EAD also has demonstrated the potential cost savings that can be realized by applying Adaptive Sampling and Analysis Program (ASAP) approaches to characterization and restoration of NORM-contaminated sites. EAD conducted a successful demonstration of the ASAP approach, which was developed by EAD researchers, at a pipe storage facility in Michigan (see http://fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2000/tl_asap.html). In addition, EAD conducted several workshops on this technical approach for the petroleum industry, its regulators, and NORM service companies. The ASAP approach is consistent with the Triad approach being promoted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which integrates systematic planning, dynamic work plans, and real-time measurement technologies to achieve more cost-effective waste site cleanup strategies. A profile of EAD’s demonstration project in Michigan is available on the EPA’s Triad Resource Center (see Item 10 at http://www.triadcentral.org/user/profile/index.cfm?ListOnly=true). A copy of the full project report is available from this Web site (see The Application of Adaptive Sampling and Analysis Program (ASAP) Techniques to NORM Sites below).
Related Topics
* Adaptive Sampling and Analysis Programs (ASAP) * Fossil Energy Technology Feasibility Studies * RESRAD: Family of Risk Codes
Related Fact Sheets
* Defining Regulatory Boundaries: Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) in the Oil and Gas Industry * RESRAD Program
Related EAD Developed/Hosted Web Sites
* NORM Technology Connection * Salt Cavern
Related Web Sites
* Characterization, Removal, and Close-out of a Radiological Materials Site in a Single Field Program Using Field-based Gross Gamma Surveys and Gamma Spectrometry Methods (see Item 10) * Clean Up Method Developed for Cold War Sites May Offer Cost Savings for Oil and Gas Industry * DOE and IOGCC Announce NORM Technology Connection Web Site * U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy
Related Publications
* An Assesssment of the Disposal of Petroleum Industry NORM in Nonhazardous Landfills PDF * The Application of Adaptive Sampling and Analysis Program (ASAP) Techniques to NORM Sites PDF * An Analytical Model for Simulating Step-Function Injection in a Radial Geometry * NORM Disposal Options, Costs Vary * Potential Radiological Doses Associated with the Disposal of Petroleum Industry NORM Via Landspreading PDF * Disposal of NORM-Contaminated Oil Field Wastes in Salt Caverns PDF * Radiological Dose Assessment of NORM Disposal in Class II Injection Wells PDF * Dose Assessment Related to Management of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials Generated by the Petroleum Industry PDF * Bibliography of Reports, Papers, and Presentations on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) in Petroleum Industry Wastes PDF * An Overview of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) in the Petroleum Industry PDF
Contact Staff Photo Karen P. Smith (303)986-1140 x267 smithk*anl.gov
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Microbial Treatment of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) EPA Grant Number: R827015-01-0 Title: Microbial Treatment of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) Investigators: Lee R. Krumholz Institutions: University of Oklahoma EPA Project Officer: Bala Krishnan Project Period: July 1, 1999 to June 30, 2000 Project Amount: $9,977 Research Category: NORM remediation
Description:
Abstract
Radioactive material has been known to be associated with both oil and gas deposits for many years. The presence of NORM at oil production facilities has recently increased in significance as federal and state regulatory agencies lay out more stringent guidelines for dealing with it. It will therefore influence Risk based decision making and the overall economics of oil production. In this proposal, we outline a plan to develop a technique for the dissolution of radioactive scale associated with oil production equipment. More specifically, we intend to design an anaerobic microbiological treatment process that will specifically dissolve radium sulfate which has precipitated on equipment in contact with oil production waters. By consuming sulfate and converting it to sulfide, sulfate reducing microorganisms will draw the relatively insoluble radium sulfate into solution as Ra2+. The radium then in solution could be transferred to another vessel where it will be re-precipitated and concentrated as the sulfate or carbonate salt for eventual disposal. The result will be the removal of radioactive material from large pieces of functional equipment with its transfer to a smaller more easily disposed of and less costly vessel. Because barium is very similar to radium in its specific ligand interactions, barium can be used as a surrogate for radium. However, all studies will be verified with radium salts and naturally occurring radium scale from oil production equipment. We will initially focus on (1) optimizing the microbiological conditions needed for the dissolution of radium scale; (2) development of a microbiological system scaled for the treatment of contaminated tools, casings and vessels; (3) optimization of a chemical treatment system using carbonate or sulfate salts for re-precipitating and concentrating radium out of solution for subsequent disposal. These experiments over the short period will generate the initial results needed to determine the viability and cost as well as design a pilot scale system for the use of microbial treatment in dealing with radium containing scale on metal and plastic surfaces.
During oil and gas exploration, production, transport, and refining, soils can be contaminated when fluids are spilled or released into the ground, when the drilling fluid becomes contaminated in the reserve pit, or when pipeline breaks and leaks crude oil or produced water into the soil. Cleaning up this contamination can add significantly to the operational costs of oil and gas production.
Biodegradation, bio-venting, pyrolysis, solvent extraction, thermal desorption, and incineration are some of the technologies employed by the petroleum industry to remediate contaminated soils. However, most of today's techniques are expensive and, in many cases, fail to remove all of the contaminants, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Some methods require the use of organic solvents, which adds cost and creates additional contamination concerns.
The Energy Department's Fossil Energy program continues to investigate new approaches for soil remediation. For example, in 1999, a project was started to evaluate a "hydrothermal extraction technology" (or hot water extraction technology). In this process, inexpensive and environmentally-friendly electrolytes were added to water to create an extracting solvent for moderate temperatures of 150-300 degrees C. The use of electrolytes allowed the process to work under milder conditions and obtain higher separation efficiencies than was previously possible. Also, under the subcritical temperatures and pressures of the process, water would dissolve both organic and inorganic contaminants - something not possible with organic solvents.
The Department is also investigating the exposure pathway from hydrocarbons in soils to absorption by humans. Exposure to hydrocarbon residues at petroleum-contaminated sites could pose a risk to human health via skin absorption and accidental windblown soil ingestion. A particular focus is to determine how any contaminants might pass into the gastrointestinal tract. Studies to date, however, have shown that only a fraction of the hydrocarbons in ingested soils cross the intestinal membranes.
Another category of soil remediation work underway at the Department of Energy concerns special handling of "naturally occurring radioactive materials" (NORM). Identifying and disposing of NORM wastes from oil and gas field operations involve regulatory issues at both the Federal and State level. Studies funded by DOE have focused on data collection, risk assessment, and disposal methods. Field demonstration of landspreading low-level NORM waste, conducted in Colorado, shows that spreading the waste in a thin surface layer facilitates natural biodegradation. Studies in Michigan examined NORM disposal in landfills, while disposal in salt caverns is proposed for Gulf Coast states and New Mexico.
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2005 National Energy Technology Laboratory U.S. Department of Energy
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21 April 2005 Adopted Date: 20 March 2005 Status: Legislation Mexico
Norm on standards for soil contamination and remediation [5419]
On 29 March 2005 the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) issued Official Mexican Norm NOM-138-SEMARNAT/SS-2003 on maximum permissible thresholds of soil contamination caused by hydrocarbon leaks. The objective of this Norm is to establish the maximum permissible thresholds of soil contamination caused by hydrocarbon leaks, its mixtures and/or derived substances of the same. In order to control this, qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the contamination at the site must be carried out. Site remediation procedures must be adopted. This Norm replaces Emergency Norm NOM-EM-138-ECOL-2002.
Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-138-SEMARNAT/SS-2003, que establece los límites máximos permisibles de hidrocarburos en suelos y las especificaciones para su caracterización y restauración // Official Mexican Norm NOM-138-SEMARNAT/SS-2003, establishing maximum permissible tresholds of hydrocarbons in soils and the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the site, and remediation procedures to be adopted.
Topics related to this abstract: (These are main descriptors, which can also be found in the Topic View):
Environment - Soil
Keywords related to this abstract: (These are more specific descriptors listed for reference and searching purposes. They are not found in the Topic View):
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FIELD STUDIES - TECHNOLOGIES FOR NORM DISPOSAL
Several technologies for treatment and disposal of NORM wastes were tested in states, which allowed for NORM disposal. Results and recommendations could prove beneficial to other states, which are reviewing options for NORM disposal regulations.
Landspreading of NORM wastes is a method which relies on spreading oil-field-contaminated waste over the soil surface to allow the hydrocarbon component of the wastes to degrade. Most states have laws governing landspreading practices to protect against environmental contamination, although most states currently prohibit hazardous wastes. This study was conducted in Colorado, where landspreading of oil field waste is permitted when the final concentrations in the soil are reduced to less than 1,000 ppm total petroleum hydrocarbons in sensitive areas and less than 10,000 ppm in all other areas. Recommendations on the specifications for landspreading to meet these requirements provide valuable data to states, which may wish to consider this method of disposal. Techniques include use of earthmoving equipment to spread hydrocarbon materials as thinly as possible to enhance biodegradation, disking the shallow soils after spreading to increase surface area exposure, and spraying the soil surface with water or fertilizers to increase biodegradation.
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Drilling Mexico Sets Limits for Contaminants In Water Extracted Along With Hydrocarbons
MEXICO CITY--Mexico has issued a new rule for managing and disposing of produced water (water that is extracted along with hydrocarbons) that will take effect May 3, an official at the national Environment Ministry told BNA March 11.
The rule (NOM-143-SEMARNAT-2003) sets limits for hydrocarbons and total dissolved solids in produced water to be released into national waters, and will primarily affect Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico's state-owned petroleum monopoly.
"Currently Pemex has no obligation to produce systematic registries of the hydrocarbon and total dissolved solids content when discharging produced water," Alma Escamilla, a director at the ministry's General Directorate of Energy and Extractive Activities, told BNA. "From now on, it will have to contain this information in its registers."
In 2002, the most recent year for which figures were available when the rule was drafted, Mexico generated more than 12 million cubic meters of produced water, 86 percent of which was re-injected, and most of the remainder of which was released into the Gulf of Mexico, Escamilla said.
The new rule, published 3 March in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, aims to prevent pollution of aquifers, the SEMARNAT official said.
Currently these activities are governed by NOM-001-SEMARNAT-1996, which sets maximum limits for pollutants in wastewaters released into national waters, and is the only technical rule that relates to produced water.
"It does not establish specific limits for hydrocarbons nor for total dissolved solids (TDS), both elements that are present in produced water," Escamilla said. "The new NORM will permit the regulation of these elements in the release of produced water into the environment."
Under the new standard, the maximum permitted levels of hydrocarbons will be 15 milligrams per liter in produced water released into fresh water, and 40 mg/L for produced water released into the sea. For TDS, the maximum level will be 500 mg/L for produced water to be discharged into fresh water, and 32,000 mg/L for discharges into the sea, which must be at least 2 kilometers from the coast.End of article graphic
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FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT 1 THE MEXICAN ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT AS A VOLUNTARY NORM CALDERON, J. Under Attorney for Environmental Audit, Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection, Periférico 5000 4° Piso, Col. Insurgentes Cuicuilco, México, D.F. SUMMARY In 1992, the position and organization of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection was created. One of its objectives is the implementation of the Environmental Audit Program. The Environmental Audit in México is being used as an “autorregulation,” or voluntary norms with the following objective — to minimize industrial risks through pollution prevention and control. 1 INTRODUCTION Several aspects make enforcement of environmental laws an especially difficult affair in Latin America. The international division of work has condemned developing countries to an increasing dependance on exploitation of their natural resources in a non-sustainable way, in order to relieve the extreme poverty that currently exists. Although the relationship between debt vs. natural resources or world trade vs. environment still remains unclear, there is no doubt that the developing countries have had to reconcile their population’s increasing demand for basic goods with the exhausting repayment of debt. Furthermore, we have had to promote industrial activity and provide the necessary framework for foreign trade while simultaneously protecting our environment, which includes our more valuable belonging: human life. Within a globalization framework at the international level, we have committed ourselves to comply with international agreements around global issues requiring immediate attention. Those commitments have highlighted the limitations of our environmental sector, but also have fostered efforts to face a reality that cannot be postponed. Taking into account increasing awareness about the environmental risks that the world faces, we must notice that the solutions given to those problems more often are corrective than preventive. In this point of view the last ones are useful tools to avoid ecological imbalance. 2 BACKGROUND The main results of this approach have been: • deterioration of world population’s quality of life, very fast in some cases; • perceptible change in atmospheric composition, especially CO2 concentrations (the main greenhouse gas); • damage to the stratospheric ozone layer; • harmful accidents related to industrial plants; and • improper management and final disposal of hazardous wastes in general and toxic wastes in particular. 2 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT This situation has become sharper in industrializing countries for several reasons: • their traditional lack of control; • the vicinity of industries and populated areas; • the constant population pressure over free spaces; • the recurrent financial and market crises; and • the lack of operational programs for emergency response. The population and environmental components are exposed to unnecesary risks by all of these factors. Those risks have become real by lamentable accidents. Perhaps the most well known of them occurred in 1984 when a toxic puff from a Union Carbide pesticide plant near Bhopal, India, was inhaled by 300,000 people. Nobody was aware that methyl isocianate, the gas released, could be so noxious. Everybody knew that methyl isocianate is toxic, but it was supposed that no one would have contact with it because it is an intermediate product. Consequently, the proper measures were not taken. Later in the same year, some liquid propane gas storage tanks exploded in San Juan Ixhuatepec, México, killing more than 400 people, according to official reports. These kinds of accidents, however, are not only present in developing countries. In 1976, an uncontrolled chemical reaction in an Hoffman-LaRoche produced a puff of one of the most toxic substances known: dioxin. This cloud was carried by the wind towards Seveso, Italy, provoking one of the most harmful accidents of the chemical industry in this century. The common aspect of these accidents is the absence of an opportune diagnostic of their possible risks. They point out the need to review systematically industry operations in order to detect the likelihood of facing similar problems in the near future. That is the origin of the environmental audit, the proactive device by nature, the autorregulation tool par excellence. 3 THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT The development of auditing skills as environmental management tools started in the mid-1970s when several companies, working independently and by their own initiative, developed internal management tools to help in the assessment and review the status of their operations. Since then, environmental auditing programs have evolved until reaching a high grade of specialization in pioneering countries, which have allowed the government authorities not to have a key role. Let me get back to this issue later. The creation of PROFEPA was led by the explosions which took place in Guadalajara 1992; the tragedy is still present in national awareness. Among PROFEPA’S functions is to implement both enforcement of environmental laws and the environmental auditing program as a proactive mechanism to avoid risks. The PROFEPA’s main function is enforcement of the law in order to protect the environment. This goal is achieved basically in two ways: inspection (with its related enforcement authority to shut down operations) and the environmental audit. The first one is a powerful legal action with a big limitation. The Federal Government can only demand the compliance with such items that have already been regulated. Since the environmental audit is voluntary, it can involve all those aspects that have not been regulated yet, which however, must be solved immediately. The Federal Government decided to use the non-punitive environmental audit approach due to the current situation in México. This situation can be outlined as follows: • almost no environmental legislation compliance during 21 years; FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT 3 • enormous amounts of hazardous wastes improperly stored and disposed; • almost total absence of environmental consciousness; • unfinished and dislocated legal framework; • lax mechanisms of compliance; • incipient environmental sector; • incipient ecological and territory planification; • obsolete production technology; and • scarcity of fiscal and credit politics. All of these features promoted an industrial sector which was reluctant to analyze its environmental reality, so the Federal Government had to convince the industrial sector by explaining the environmental audit’s real goal. In addition, to foster the environmental audit program, if an enterprise decided to enter the environmental audit program, PROFEPA would exclude it from normal inspection activities. Nevertheless, the industry would be inspected if a public law complaint were presented or a contingency occurred. Environmental auditing is therefore the way that an industry can choose to comply with its environmental obligations. It basically consists of a methodological review of its production process in order to know the pollution and risk conditions under which it is operating. The degree of compliance is also defined. Likewise the environmental audit includes items not regulated yet but controlled internationally through good engineering practices. It defines and compels the application of preventive and corrective measures needed to protect the environment. All this is done confidentially, as the legal framework demands. The essence of the environmental audit is to verify, analyze and assess the adequacy and application of risk minimization and pollution control to the enterprise. 4 MÉXICO’S CASE Let me show you some data about one of our main worries, México City metropolitan zone. México City metropolitan zone embraces 16 delegated Federal Districts and 17 State municipalities, and its inhabitants have grown 2.54% annually in the last two decades. Such a big city offers cheap labor, services and great market opportunities. This is why it has strongly attracted every kind of industry (see Figure 1). The ultimate result is that within a 2,000 square kilometers city there are about 30,000 industries of all sizes and classes of industries besides 18 million people. Moreover, in some parts of this crowded city, risks are high; almost 44 million tons of hydrocarbon fossil fuels are burned and nearly 600 metric tons of solvents are used day in and day out. To a smaller degree, a similar situation is presented in the metropolitan zone of Monterrey and Guadalajara Cities. Of special concern are the northern border region and the industrial corridors of Coatzacoalcos-Minatitlán, Tula-Vito-Apasco, Tampico-Madero-Altamira, and Irapuato-Celaya-Salamanca (see Figure 2). The federal government decided to start the auditing activities in dangerous enterprises located in those areas. As we expected, the bigger industries were selected in this step. Lately PROFEPA has been inviting the other industries to join the environmental audit program. 4 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT 5 6 FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT Reviewing the 1994 economic census from the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Data Processing, the micro, small and medium industry comprise 99.2% of the total manufacturing establishments. They hire 55% of the total personnel and generate 38% of total income. On the other hand, the big industries comprises 0.8% of the total industrial plants, hire 45% of the personnel and receive 62% of total income. In México, like most countries, the smaller enterprises constitute the manufacturing activity bases. Moreover, they offer most of the employment. However, given the scarcity of governmental human and financing resources, the starting actions have been directed to the bigger industries for which control is easier because of its small number. They represent the highest risk situations, therefore their control is imperative. Indeed, the Environmental Audit Program does not ignore the micro, small and medium industries. However, it is assumed that these enterprises are facing serious financial problems and have more urgent concerns than environmental activities. Aware of that, PROFEPA is looking for their participation in the program through a World Bank fund. In that case, the government would pay part of the audit expenses. 5 THE INDUSTRIAL RESPONSE The Mexican environmental sector is evolving quickly, the government is enforcing the law, citizen participation is rising and the industries are making considerable efforts to comply. In this sense, in the near future, “declaration audits” will be implemented. In this kind of audit, the auditors will be certified by the governmental authority and their reports will be accepted without review, unlike the present scheme which demands that reports to be supervised by PROFEPA. Industries in México, especially those with corporate environmental policies, have echoed the official efforts to support proactive mechanisms for environmental management. As a result, the “Environmental Protection and Industrial Competitiveness Covenant” between the Trade and Industrial Promotion Secretary (SECOFI), Environment, Natural Resources and Fishing Secretary and Industrialist Confederation Chamber was signed in September 1995. In this covenant, autorregulation was defined as intersectorial policies to develop and foster voluntary industrial environmental protection programs through mechanisms like raw material substitution, technological modernization, energy efficiency, recycling and, of course, environmental audits. 6 PRACTICAL RESULTS Environmental audits represent a preventive approach to pollution control and risk minimization. Its collateral results are: updating an industry in terms of environmental compliance and the processes’s continuous improvement. This goal demanded enormous effort because of the fact that the country, jointly with its industrial plants, is facing severe financial problems. Environmental Audit Voluntary Program results by August 1995 are as follows: 303 audits completely finished, 150 in progress, and 135 in any part of consultation process. Among those audited, Federal Government enterprises stand out, such as the PEMEX’S petrochemical complexes, CFE’s energy generation plants, National Mexican Railroads Workshops, etc. To give an idea about the required expenses, PEMEX by itself has spent more than US $2 billion in the audit process as well as the Action Plans and remediation activities detected. Although the concept of an audit is the same internationally, the Mexican concept of audit has special features. In Germany, Austria, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Belgium, USA, Canada and other countries, unlike México, the environmental authority has no key FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT 7 participation in the process. An industry in those countries decides to audit because of one or more of the following reasons: internal or corporate politics; improvement of its public image; non-government organization pressure; stakeholders decisions; financial requirements; etc. The government does not participate in the decision. Furthermore, the final audit reports are not destined for the environmental authority and the audited industry decides all by itself what to do and when. Therefore, in those countries, there is no official or compulsory way to do audit. However, the review of every matter related to the environmental question is a common practice, but without governmental guidance. In México, PROFEPA has a key role. First of all, it promotes the entrance to the voluntary program and establishes the compulsory terms of reference for the audit; then it supervises the performance of the job and convenes with the industry representative of all the actions to be performed in order to correct the findings of the audit. Finally, it supervises compliance of the convened actions. As a signatory of NAFTA, México is committed to effective compliance of its own environmental regulations. In this sense, and facing less and less regulated international trade, the environmental audit is now accepted as an environmental law compliance advice in terms of the North American environmental protection agreement. In the same sense, as an active organization member, México will have to heed the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Council’s recommendation on integrated prevention and control of contamination, issued on January 31, 1991, which indicates that environmental audit is one of the integrating mechanisms. The environmental audit has demonstrated its effectiveness and has other interesting advantages as the possible elimination of penalties for self-identified, reported, and corrected items, provided that PROFEPA is notified in a spontaneous way and realistic and scheduled solutions and control and prevention measures are presented. We must notice too that the environmental audit’s terms of reference fulfill the environmental certification requirements internationally, such as ISO 14000. This will allow, in the near future, the environmental audit to become a requirement to obtain the commercial benefits acquired with the adoption of such international standards. The ongoing PROFEPA environmental audit policy is to take care of the problems arising from bigger industrial installations, either public or private; Petróleos Mexicanos, Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, Ford, General Motors y Nestlé are some examples of them. All of this has a double effect: to minimize industrial risks and, on the other hand, promote adequate pollution control. We really think that Environmental Audit Program must be complemented with an appropriated enforcement policy. The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection’s general policy is intended to achieve this goal. The Mexican environmental question is based on the “Think Globally, Act Locally” concept, so, we are committed to the preservation of the unique world we have. In conclusion, let me be emphatic in saying that the main objective of Mexico’s Environmental Audit Program is to achieve a better and healthier environment for all of us and to raise the quality of life for all Mexicans through a preventative approach.
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Phase Two of Pemex Environmental Study Begins
Instituto Mexican del Petróleo (IMP) and Battelle (The "Alianza") have received a two-year, $8.65 million contract from Mexican oil giant PEMEX to carry out the second phase of an environmental assessment of its offshore oil and gas operations in the Sonda de Campeche. Battelle will conduct tasks amounting to about $4.0 million of the work. The project, a joint effort of the Battelle-IMP Alianza, will assess the nature and extent of environmental impacts that were identified as potential impacts in the earlier study. In doing so, Battelle will evaluate whether environmental impacts are due to PEMEX operations or other environmental factors. In addition, the Alianza will provide specific guidance on how PEMEX can improve environmental operations in the Sonda. In 1998, using existing environmental data from PEMEX and other sources, the Alianza team first conducted a screening-level evaluation to determine whether past or current operations at Sonda de Campeche had likely resulted in impacts to human health or the environment. The study assessed the impacts of PEMEX operations by level and extent of effect, quality of the environmental data, and quality of the data about human or ecological effects. "We wanted to give PEMEX as accurate a view as possible within the project scope," said Dr. Charlie Brandt, Battelle project manager. Key senior staff in Battelle include Brandt, Marshall Richmond, and Jeff Ward of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which Battelle operates for the U.S. Department of Energy, and Dr. Jerry Neff, Dr. Scott Stout, and Bill Steinhauer of Battelle's Coastal Resource and Environmental Management and Safety group. Natural petroleum seeps were one confounding factor in the scientists' analyses. "It was difficult to tell the effect of routine discharges or spills because they were small compared to naturally occurring seeps in the area," said Brandt. Brandt noted in the next phase of the research Battelle's forensic chemists would develop source fingerprints of PEMEX oil and other discharges that could distinguish these products from the natural oil seepages in the area. In phase two, the Alianza will install instruments to fill a multitude of data gaps and gather data and samples to confirm findings from the earlier study. Ecotoxicologists will quantify the toxicity and biological effects of discharges from the oil and gas exploration and production process. Geochemists and hydrologists will evaluate and model groundwater and soil contamination while physical oceanographers will measure currents at the discharge points using acoustic Doppler current profilers to predict the direction and concentration of discharges. Once samples are analyzed, Battelle will apply risk assessment approaches and use forensic analysis to differentiate PEMEX effects on seawater, groundwater, sediment, soil, and biota from those arising from other sources. Related to the Sonda project is a parallel effort to transfer technology and know-how to IMP so that they may improve their environmental services and technologies. The technology transfer effort in this case will involve training in: ecological risk assessment techniques, the conduct of ecotoxicology studies, deepwater assessment and sampling approaches, and risk communication to stakeholders. For further information, contact Dr. Charlie Brandt
[ October 30, 2005, 18:29: Message edited by: Peaser01 ]
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The world is running out of crude oil! While this is certainly true for conventional crude oils that are easily and inexpensively processed into high-quality fuels, there are vast deposits of heavy crude oils in many parts of the world. In fact, these reserves are estimated at more than seven times the known remaining reserves of conventional crude oils. The largest heavy oil reserves are in the Orinoco oil belt of Venezuela, the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada, and the Olenik oil sands in Siberia, Russia. These heavy crude oils are known as unconventional crude oils because they cannot be produced, transported, and refined by conventional methods. Heavy crude oils have a density (specific gravity) approaching or even exceeding that of water. They usually are extremely viscous, with a consistency ranging from that of heavy molasses to a solid at room temperature. Heavy crude oils usually contain high concentrations of sulfur and several metals, particularly nickel and vanadium. These are the properties that make them difficult to pump out of the ground or through a pipeline and interfere with refining. These properties also present serious environmental challenges to the growth of heavy oil production and use. However, as proven reserves of conventional crude oil are depleted, there is a growing interest in developing the vast resources of these unconventional oils. To this end, the oil industry and government energy agencies are developing new, cost-effective methods for extracting the heavy oils from the reservoir, upgrading them either in situ or at the wellhead, transporting the heavy crude oils or synthetic crude (syncrudes) produced at the well to the refinery, and refining the heavy oils and syncrudes to obtain high yields of valuable light and middle distillate fuels. Environmental concerns about heavy crude oils are of two types: Chemical wastes and byproducts of heavy crude oil production, upgrading, and refining may cause serious ecological injury if released to the environment. Spills of heavy crude oils and syncrudes are difficult to clean up and may cause long-term injury to the affected environment. Many of the in situ and wellhead upgrading and refining technologies produce waste gases and solids that, if released to the environment, would cause serious ecological injury. Additionally, tanker or pipeline accidents involving heavy oils are difficult to clean up. The oil, particularly if it accumulates in upland soils, on the shore, or on the sea floor (some heavy crude and residual oils are denser than seawater and sink), may be extremely persistent and may cause chronic injury to the affected environment. Battelle is actively involved in environmental studies to determine the environmental challenges of heavy crude oils. For more information about heavy crude oils, contact Dr. Jerry Neff at (781) 952-5229, neffjm*battelle.org.
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It goes into explaining the NORM in detail and what PEMEX has begun doing about it. A lot of the info is from this year. Just some DD for all to see.
The articles aren't from 1992, just mentions what happened during the previous years.
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Dust your not losing you confidence are you. I serously am not trading next october Im down 9000 now Crap Crap Crap let me just say one more time Crap!!!!!!
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Im thinking about not loging in to my computer for a month. If I sell now man what a loss Im believeing something is going to come out of this. Peaser are you still holding all your shares or have you started dumping as well??? I think I've gone into the numb stage LOL
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SSWM Reaches $1MM Key Milestone in Remediation Contract in Mexico Wednesday November 2, 9:45 am ET Manufacturing Company Site Clean-Up Progresses Smoothly
CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 2005--Sub-Surface Waste Management of Delaware, Inc. (OTCBB:SSWM - News) announced it has mobilized personnel to commence a new phase on its existing project in Torreon, Mexico, that has now exceeded $1 million in total contract revenue to date. ADVERTISEMENT
Bruce Beattie, President of SSWM, stated: "SSWM engineers will kick off the next phase of work for this confidential client with manufacturing operations in Mexico to install, operate and maintain an in situ (below ground surface) remediation treatment system to clean up sub-surface soils under an active production facility site. SSWM engineers will use both conventional and biological technologies to remediate heavy petroleum-based machine oils to acceptable regulatory standards. Our most recent work to date has been to excavate contaminated soils with minimal impact to production operations and treat the material using the patented Bio-Raptor(TM) process on site in an adjacent open area within the facility for final removal as clean soil once cleanup goals are achieved."
About Sub-Surface Waste Management
A subsidiary of U.S. Microbics (OTCBB:BUGS - News), Sub-Surface Waste Management of Delaware, Inc. provides comprehensive civil and environmental engineering project management services, including specialists to design, permit, build and operate environmental waste cleanup treatment systems using conventional, biological and filtration technologies. SSWM is capitalizing on its expertise and technology by forming strategic alliances and joint ventures with well-established engineering firms.
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Man I don't get it I exit all my positions yesterday and both stocks up 25% or more talk about stupid. Glad I could help you out next time I'll buy something then in a month or 2 you can buy for 50% lower I'll exit and you can double your money. sounds like a plan whos in
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