Types of Oil Field Wastes

Types of oil field wastes suitable for storage in salt caverns include:

• Nonhazardous oil field wastes (NOW)



• Naturally occurring radioactive wastes (NORM)



• Primarily those types of NOW and NORM that contain high levels of solids or oil and grease

Nonhazardous Oil Field Wastes (NOW)

Many types of NOW can be disposed of in Salt Caverns:

NORM Waste

NORM wastes have similar chemical characteristics to NOW but also contain radionuclides.

• Types of NORM waste suitable for cavern disposal include:
• scale (25,000 tons/year)
• sludge (225,000 tons/year)
• contaminated soil


• NORM is derived from isotopes of uranium-238 and thorium-232 that naturally occur in subsurface formations from which oil and gas are produced.



• Radium-226 and radium-228 are the primary radionuclides of concern.