NORM (NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS) EVALUATION IN THE OIL FIELDS OF KENTUCKY

Terence Hamilton-Smith, Brandon C. Nuttall, and James A. Drahovzal

This project was initiated as a result of reported radioactivity associated with oil production in the Martha oil field in eastern Kentucky. Such associated radioactivity is referred to as NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) contamination. An interdisciplinary technical group was formed that includes representatives of the Kentucky Geological Survey, the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection, the Kentucky Division of Oil and Gas, and the Kentucky Oil and Gas Association, with leadership provided by the Radiation Branch of the Kentucky Department for Health Services. This committee met often in 1993 to evaluate the potential NORM hazard in the oil and gas fields of Kentucky.

Available data suggest that NORM contamination resulting from the petroleum industry in Kentucky is associated specifically with radium-bearing scale deposited in pipes, facilities, and pits resulting from brine production associated with oil, including both primary water production and waterflood stimulation. Gas and oil production without associated water is not expected to result in a NORM hazard. Results of NORM investigations to date have been presented at meetings in Kentucky sponsored by the University of Kentucky Department of Geological Sciences, the Kentucky Oil and Gas Association, and the Kentucky Geological Survey. Future work will depend on the initiative of the Kentucky Department for Health Services.