Salt caverns show promise for nonhazardous oil field waste disposal
- Argonne National Lab., Washington, DC (United States)
Salt caverns show promise for the disposal of non-hazardous oil field wastes, and there are no apparent regulatory barriers to this application. Solution-mined salt caverns have been used for many years for storing hydrocarbon products. Argonne National laboratory has reviewed the legality, technical suitability, and feasibility of disposing of nonhazardous oil and gas exploration and production wastes in salt caverns. An analysis of regulations indicates that there are no outright regulatory prohibitions on cavern disposal of oil field wastes at either the federal level or in the 11 oil-producing states that were studied (Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas). The paper discusses the two types of salt deposits in the US, regulatory concerns, wastes, cavern design, disposal operations, closure and remediation, and results of the feasibility study.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 400894
- Journal Information:
- Oil and Gas Journal, Vol. 94, Issue 47; Other Information: PBD: 18 Nov 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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