Risk Analyses for Disposing Nonhazardous Oil Field Wastes in Salt Caverns
Abstract
Salt caverns have been used for several decades to store various hydrocarbon products. In the past few years, four facilities in the United States have been permitted to dispose nonhazardous oil field wastes in salt caverns. Several other disposal caverns have been permitted in Canada and in Europe. This report evaluates the possibility that adverse human health effects (carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic) could result from exposure to contaminants released from the caverns in domal salt formations used for nonhazardous oil field waste disposal. The evaluation assumes normal operations but considers the possibility of leaks in cavern seals and cavern walls during the post closure phase of operation. In this assessment, several steps were followed to identify possible human health risks. At the broadest level, these steps include identifying a reasonable set of contaminants of possible concern, identifying how humans could be exposed to these contaminants, assessing the toxicities of these contaminants, estimating their intakes, and characterizing their associated human health risks. The contaminants of concern for the assessment are benzene, cadmium, arsenic, and chromium. These were selected as being components of oil field waste and having a likelihood to remain in solution for a long enough time to reach a human receptor.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA335544
Entities
People
- Dan Caudle
- David Tomasko
- Deborah Elcock
- John Veil
Organizations
- Argonne National Laboratory