Norwegian oil industry 'needs procedure for hazardous waste'

The bourgeoning oil industry in Norway must have serious procedures in place for hazardous waste, Bellona’s Karl Kristensen has argued.

Mr Kristensen was talking ahead of the ONS oil and gas conference, which kicks off today in Norway’s city of Stavanger, saying that there is a big requirement for developing procedures for handling hazardous waste from the oil industry. He said this became particularly apparent after a storage tank exploded in Sløvåg in Gulen, releasing waste into the atmosphere in summer 2007.

The explosion itself was a big issue for the industry, but what was of equal concern was the lack of procedure in terms of waste management after the event. Instead of cleaning the explosion up, the oil industry did very little at all and waste leaks continued to occur.

Waste leaks have been found on a variety of injection wells on the Norwegian continental shelf, which resulted in police reviews of conditions at Statoil’s Veslefrikk. The Oleon plant was a prominent example, with large quantities of waste being stored at the plant, and Statoil’s illegal dumping of chemical waste in the production pipeline at the Sture terminal also bears mention.

Mr Kristensen said: "Such events cannot continue. The oil industry does not necessarily deliver waste that is very much more toxic or dangerous than other industries, but because the waste is delivered in large quantities in a short time, it creates a particular risk."

Norway’s Climate and Pollution Agency (Klif) took a long time to recognise that there was an issue with toxic waste in the oil industry. However, once the agency got its wake up call, they started to act. The industry is now being more closely monitored, and the worst crimes are now being prosecuted.

The body has also requested prevention procedures from the Norwegiain Oil Industry Association (OLF), which points out out ways the waste can and should be handled. However, Mr Kristensen believes the draft report contains a number of deficiencies, which could create the impression that the oil industry's main strategy in this area to date has been to sweep problems under the rug.

Posted by Joseph Hutton