Estimate of the risks of disposing nonhazardous oil field wastes into salt caverns [electronic resource].

Published:: Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 1997.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Physical Description:: 10 pages : digital, PDF file
Additional Creators:: Argonne National Laboratory, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information

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Summary:

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has completed an evaluation of the possibility that adverse human health effects (carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic) could result from exposure to contaminants released from nonhazardous oil field wastes (NOW) disposed in domal salt caverns. Potential human health risks associated with hazardous substances (arsenic, benzene, cadmium, and chromium) in NOW were assessed under four postclosure cavern release scenarios: inadvertent cavern intrusion, failure of the cavern seal, failure of the cavern through cracks or leaky interbeds, and a partial collapse of the cavern roof. To estimate potential human health risks for these scenarios, contaminant concentrations at the receptor were calculated using a one-dimensional solution to an advection/dispersion equation that included first order degradation. Assuming a single, generic salt cavern and generic oil-field wastes, the best-estimate excess cancer risks ranged from 1.7 × 10{sup −12} to 1.1 × 10{sup −8} and hazard indices (referring to noncancer health effects) ranged from 7 × 10{sup −9} to 7 × 10{sup −4}. Under worse-case conditions in which the probability of cavern failure is 1.0, excess cancer risks ranged from 4.9 × 10{sup −9} to 1.7 × 10{sup −5} and hazard indices ranged from 7.0 × 10{sup −4} to 0.07. Even under worst-case conditions, the risks are within the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) target range for acceptable exposure levels. From a human health risk perspective, salt caverns can, therefore, provide an acceptable disposal method for NOW.

Report Numbers:

E 1.99:anl/ea/cp--93006
E 1.99: conf-9709234--
conf-9709234--
anl/ea/cp--93006

Subject(s):

Petroleum

Other Subject(s):

Note:

Published through SciTech Connect.
12/31/1997.
"anl/ea/cp--93006"
" conf-9709234--"
"DE97054324"
1997 Ground Water Protection Council annual forum, Cleveland, OH (United States), 20-24 Sep 1997.
Tomasko, D.; Elcock, D.; Veil, J.

Funding Information:

W-31109-ENG-38

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