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Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

rollingstone.com

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Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#21

Post by lostlogin »

keeganjw wrote: post #2

We're drowning in headlines these days that I feel like this story really fell through the cracks. People who live near fracking really need to know this.

It’s not just those near it - places between the well and the dump site, near the rivers by the dump, near the truck stops, eating the crops the brine has contaminated, using the recycled pipes, washing workers clothes, living in the worker’s houses. If you were designing a dispersal system, you’d be hard placed to make a better one short of perhaps aerial spraying.

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#22

Post by jschwartzi »

acidburnNSA wrote: post #15
capableweb wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you're trying to correct something that is already correct in the article, as soon as in paragraph 4. > The Earth’s crust is in fact peppered with radioactive elements that concentrate deep underground in oil-and-gas-bearing layers. This radioactivity is often pulled to the surface when oil and gas is extracted — carried largely in the brine.

The article does a good job. I'm referring to the headline. For example, nuclear reactors produce radioactive material by fissioning barely-radioactive uranium into highly-radioactive fission products but take great care to not release it. Fracking releases naturally-occurring radioactive materials. Also: "is peppered with" does not imply naturally-occurring. Someone biased to think all radiation is man-made could ea…

If we're using solutions full of this stuff as deicing brine, that's definitionally dumping waste.

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#23

Post by jschwartzi »

_pmf_ wrote: post #4

Wait until they hear about neodymium processing for wind turbines.

What are you saying? That we can't talk about any environmental issues because we don't list every single environmental issue we're aware of?

I'm sure everyone discussing this article is aware that neodymium processing is very hazardous. But right now we're learning that "simple" oil & gas extraction is also extremely hazardous, that the hazards are completely ignored, that non-employees of the extraction companies are deeply affected by the hazardous waste, that the extraction companies themselves work very hard to make it appear safe when in reality it can make you very sick, and generally that oil & gas extraction companies do not care at all about the treatment of these people on whom they are dumping these chemicals.

But by all means, let's also talk about neodymium production in China to distract ourselves from what's going on in our own back yards.

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#24

Post by azernik »

capableweb wrote: post #19
acidburnNSA wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alpha particles generally cannot penetrate the skin, much less clothing or shoes. Betas can get through skin but probably not shoes. There is some energy dependence. Secondary decays and energy transitions often emit gamma rays as well which can go through everything, but the majority of the energy with these nuclides are alphas and betas. These are primarily dangerous because they're water soluble and present an ing…

> These are primarily dangerous because they're water soluble and present an ingestion and inhalation hazard. Once a large amount of a strong alpha-emitter is in your intestines it can really cause damage. So since the workers are getting it all over their hands and feet, which probably has sweat on it, would it pose a danger? Also, would getting it on wounds like cuts be dangerous as well?

The article focuses on the fact that the workers aren't given the training or opportunity to decontaminate before eating.

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#25

Post by ComputerGuru »

acidburnNSA wrote: post #10

Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much radioactive stuff is natural. Doesn't mean it's not a hazard in concentration, of course.

We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth?

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#26

Post by Merrill »

acidburnNSA wrote: post #10

Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much radioactive stuff is natural. Doesn't mean it's not a hazard in concentration, of course.

>What’s Lurking in Your Countertop?

>But with increasing regularity in recent months, the Environmental Protection Agency has been receiving calls from radon inspectors as well as from concerned homeowners about granite countertops with radiation measurements several times above background levels. “We’ve been hearing from people all over the country concerned about high readings,” said Lou Witt, a program analyst with the agency’s Indoor Environments Division.

https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/garden/24granite.html

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#27

Post by sdoering »

briandear wrote: post #5
_pmf_ wrote: post #4

Wait until they hear about neodymium processing for wind turbines.

They won’t hear about it. The “proper” narrative is to promote the terribleness of oil and gas.

I wouldn't say that. I would even say lots of people know about that. At least knowledgeable people do. But they also know how to not derail.

Because whataboutism doesn't help a discussion.

So I am glad that most people discussing here do not try to derail or play smoke and mirrors.

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#28

Post by JohnJamesRambo »

I used to do the soil lab testing for a guy that dealt with this waste in my state. They did permitting and paid farmers to be able to spread it on their fields and tell them it is good for them and will make the soil more fertile. It can be either the salt brine or the more hydrocarbon based stuff that was basically like tar being spread on the farmer’s pasture. He himself wrote the laws that the state government just rubber-stamped. I felt like I was working for evil, polluting my own state, and quit as soon as I could. Some real Grapes of Wrath type stuff. The old farmers don’t have any money, so the money the oil company will pay to spread that garbage on their land seems like a good deal to them and they weren’t informed about the real dangers of what was being spread.

Side note, the owner of that company was a very rich man and also one of the unhappiest people I’ve ever met in my life. It was a good lesson to learn at my young age then.

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#29

Post by [deleted] »

totalZero wrote: post #3

"Radium, typically the most abundant radionuclide in brine, is often measured in picocuries per liter of substance and is so dangerous it’s subject to tight restrictions even at hazardous-waste sites. The most common isotopes are radium-226 and radium-228, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires industrial discharges to remain below 60 for each. Four of Peter’s samples registered combined radium levels above 3…

[deleted]

Re: Oil-and-gas wells produce radioactive waste

#30

Post by lostlogin »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #25
acidburnNSA wrote: post #10

Technically speaking they released concentrated naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). I only emphasize this because most people don't know how much radioactive stuff is natural. Doesn't mean it's not a hazard in concentration, of course.

We literally mine Uranium. How can people not realize this stuff can be found naturally on Earth?

Or even better, the natural fission reactor found in Gabon. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reac...
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