{"id":14331,"date":"2015-01-21T19:44:18","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T19:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=14331"},"modified":"2015-01-21T19:44:18","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T19:44:18","slug":"dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"DEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY BRENDAN GIBBONS<\/strong>
\n Times-Shamrock Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The state Department of Environmental Protection released on Thursday what it says is the most thorough study conducted of radioactive materials associated with oil and gas extraction.<\/p>\n

In January 2013, the DEP announced it would take a close look at radioactivity levels in solids, liquids and gases that make their way into the environment when drillers tap into the Marcellus Shale and other shale formations.<\/p>\n

After two years of study, the agency concluded \u201cthere is little potential for harm to workers or the public from radiation exposure due to oil and gas development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the report mentions areas that warrant further study and could present some risk to industry workers and, during a spill, the environment.<\/p>\n

The DEP conducted sampling at well sites, wastewater treatment plants, landfills that accept drilling waste, compressor stations, gas processing facilities, underground gas storage zones and others. It compared these levels with federal health and environmental standards.<\/p>\n

The agency focused on the three types of radiation \u2014 alpha, beta and gamma. All are considered ionizing radiation and can cause health effects \u2014 cancer being the primary concern \u2014 at certain levels, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Everyone receives a certain dose of radiation per year, the EPA states, most from the soil, space, the human body and medical procedures.<\/p>\n

Alpha particles are essentially the nucleus of a helium atom \u2014 two protons and two neutrons \u2014 ejected from a radioactive isotope as it decays. Beta particles are basically electrons shooting out a radioactive isotope. Gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation that can pass through materials that would block alpha and beta particles.<\/p>\n

In its study, the DEP found that solids emitting alpha and beta radiation that cling to surfaces on well pads, smaller wastewater treatment plants and landfills were not easily removed and would not likely make their way into workers\u2019 bodies.<\/p>\n

It did find some potential that workers could ingest or inhale these solids at larger facilities that process wastewater for the industry, if those particles were dislodged from surfaces during \u201croutine system maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Workers at natural gas processing plants face some risk of ingesting alpha- and beta-emitting materials when they change the plant\u2019s filters, the report states.<\/p>\n

The DEP found gamma radiation levels too low on well sites, wastewater plants and landfills to present health concerns for workers or the public. It did find a few gamma radiation levels at gas processing plants that could exceed certain dose limits.<\/p>\n

The DEP does not expect to find radon, a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that is a by-product of radioactive decay, at concerning levels in oil and gas production or waste sites, or in homes that use natural gas for heating and fuel.<\/p>\n

But the DEP found radioactive wastes could affect the environment during spills of wastewater and the solids left behind in filters.<\/p>\n

Surface soil along roadways sprayed with oil and gas brine to melt ice also showed higher levels of radiation than background, the report stated.<\/p>\n

Along with its 200-page report, the DEP released sampling data and comments from six experts who offered scientific peer review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY BRENDAN GIBBONS Times-Shamrock Writer The state Department of Environmental Protection released on Thursday what it says is the most thorough study conducted of radioactive…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nDEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials - PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY BRENDAN GIBBONS Times-Shamrock Writer The state Department of Environmental Protection released on Thursday what it says is the most thorough study conducted of radioactive...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-21T19:44:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/\",\"name\":\"DEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials - PS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-21T19:44:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"DEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/\",\"name\":\"PS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5\",\"name\":\"tpennysaver\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6045c51d67078fca07dea2f9a98096ff872042fa26efc301b1a93de9e6020ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6045c51d67078fca07dea2f9a98096ff872042fa26efc301b1a93de9e6020ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tpennysaver\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/author\/tpennysaver\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"DEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials - PS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"DEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials - PS","og_description":"BY BRENDAN GIBBONS Times-Shamrock Writer The state Department of Environmental Protection released on Thursday what it says is the most thorough study conducted of radioactive...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/","og_site_name":"PS","article_published_time":"2015-01-21T19:44:18+00:00","author":"tpennysaver","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tpennysaver","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/","url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/","name":"DEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials - PS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-01-21T19:44:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2015\/01\/21\/dep-releases-study-of-radioactive-oil-and-gas-materials\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"DEP releases study of radioactive oil and gas materials"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/","name":"PS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5","name":"tpennysaver","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6045c51d67078fca07dea2f9a98096ff872042fa26efc301b1a93de9e6020ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d6045c51d67078fca07dea2f9a98096ff872042fa26efc301b1a93de9e6020ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tpennysaver"},"url":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/author\/tpennysaver\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}