Regulation of Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM) under State Law: How Effective Is it? What More Needs to Be Done?

When materials are removed from the earth during oil and gas drilling, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials  (NORM) becomes Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM). Exposure to TENORM can cause health issues associated with radiation. TENORM can be found in most aspects of oil and gas operations, including millions of gallons of produced waters, miles worth of drilling sludge and other wastes that may contain TENORM and are shipped off site. Fracking has increased the amount of TENORM contaminated materials. Not all states regulate TENORM but a growing number do.

We used principles of legal epidemiology following PHLR policy surveillance protocols to examine the relative effectiveness of state TENORM regulation in the oil and gas industry to protect public health and the environment. We began by collecting documents referencing TENORM, NORM, radon or radium using LEXIS and state law databases. We reviewed the laws and regulations of all 50 states against preset codes using LawAtlas WorkBench. Coders crosschecked each other’s work to determine consistency. Our review concluded that there is a growing number of states that are regulating handling, treatment and disposal of TENORM in the oil and gas industry. Many states entering the regulatory field sought to regulate in order to relax regulation on industry.