The state of North Dakota has temporarily suspended its review of applications to allow disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) at two landfills in Williams County.
The freeze gives time for officials in the northwestern county to decide whether to approve amendments to the conditional use permits for the landfills to begin accepting the additional waste type.
Secure Energy Services, based in Calgary, Alberta, in April 2018 filed its application with the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality for a radioactive material license for its 13-Mile Special Waste Landfill in Williston. The energy production and exploration services company then requested a modification for its solid waste permit to allow for TENORM disposal at the site.
The Department of Environmental Quality took public comments on the license application from Aug. 6 to Sept. 9, including a public hearing on Aug. 27.
“The Department is currently reviewing the submitted public comments and hearing testimony to develop a response,” David Stradinger, an environmental scientist with the DEQ’s Radiation Control Program, said by email Tuesday. “The application is on hold until the Williams County Planning and Zoning and Williams County Commissions meet to deliberate zoning approval.”
The amendment to the county conditional use permit would simply add disposal of TENORM waste for Secure Energy Services’ 160-acre special waste landfill. The county Planning and Zoning Commission has scheduled an Oct. 17 hearing on the company’s Aug. 30 application. It could then submit its recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners for consideration during its Nov. 5 meeting, according to Taylor Dawson, a staff planner in the county Planning and Zoning Division.
“The BOCC will base their decision upon reports, information, public comment, and evidence presented to them,” Dawson said Wednesday by email. “They also take into consideration the evaluation criteria in the Williams County Zoning Ordinance.”
The other applicant for a state radioactive material license is petroleum service provider WISCO Inc., for its own landfill west of Williston. The company as of Thursday had not applied for an amendment to its Williams County conditional use permit, Dawson said.
Each county proceeding, barring unforeseen developments, would be expected to last about six weeks.
TENORM is produced through energy production and other human activity that increase radionuclide concentrations in naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). In the oil and gas industries it includes filter cake, filter socks, contaminated soil, frack sand, and other materials.
North Dakota is the No. 2 U.S. producer of crude oil and the No. 11 producer of natural gas, according to the federal Energy Information Administration. However, for now, it must ship its TENORM waste to other states for disposal.
Under state regulations instituted in January 2016, licensed landfills can accept no more than 25,000 tons of TENORM waste per year. The waste would not be allowed to exceed 50 picocuries per gram of radium-226 plus radium-228.
The Secure Energy Services and WISCO applications are the only licensing requests currently filed with the state.
