North Dakota on brink of more radioactive oil waste disposal options

North Dakota's oil industry could soon have a second option for disposing of radioactive waste within the state, and a regulator sees potential for more facilities.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission recently permitted a second well slated for McKenzie County in which oil field waste would be mixed with saltwater into a slurry and injected deep underground. State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms anticipates the other three core Bakken counties -- Williams, Mountrail and Dunn -- could each have a well down the road.

“That would round us out pretty well and put us in a situation where much of our TENORM waste could be dealt with very economically and dealt with here in-state in an extremely safe manner,” he said, using the acronym for technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material.

About 100,000 tons of radioactive oil field waste is produced in the state each year. Until the first slurry well started operating near Watford City in April, it was all trucked to other states for disposal in landfills or, more rarely, dumped illegally. North Dakota did not have any options for disposal within the state.

Read more: https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/north-dakota-on-brink-of-more-radioactive-oil-waste-disposal-options/article_cdfa475c-7d93-5e08-a7ac-c473b8923ffe.html