Table of Contents

Vol. 6, No. 4
4th Quarter 2000

GTI Introduces Online Environmental Regulatory Newsletter for Gas Industry

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) has introduced a new monthly online newsletter designed to keep the U.S. natural gas industry up to date on environmental and safety legislation and regulations. Environmental Reg UPDATE assembles in one source the latest developments in regulations, court decisions, and legislative trends concerning the natural gas industry.

 
This information is of specific interest to management and to environment and safety staff at pipeline companies, investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, and natural gas producers, as well as consultants and manufacturers servicing those industries.

Environmental Reg UPDATE is designed to save time for companies trying to stay current on increasingly stringent national environmental and safety regulations and on state policies that vary across the country. Unlike other regulatory information services, UPDATE only presents information relevant to the natural gas industry. The newsletter relies on the insights of regulatory expert Vince Lajiness, who spent 32 years at The Coastal Corporation, where he directed the company's Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Department.

A new edition of UPDATE, including past issues is available on the GTI website at http://www.gastechnology.org/pub/news/ envregupdate. The newsletter currently is free of charge, but a subscription fee will be charged in the future.

GTI, based in the Chicago area, offers research and technical services, R&D program management, technology commercialization, and education and training programs.

These programs benefit the natural gas industry and its customer, or provide technology-based solutions to individual organizations.

Focus on E&P/ Refining Environmental Solutions

Government, academic and industry personnel gathered at the 7th Inter-national Petroleum Environmental Conference, Nov. 7-10 in Albuquerque, NM to learn about E&P environmental issues and solutions. Conference organizers used pre-conference workshops, a special symposium, general session and panels, multiple technical sessions and numerous networking opportunities to create a learning experience with something for all.

Workshops focused on practical operations issues, including: (1) minimizing waste in E&P operations, (2) lower cost, streamlined approaches for cleaning up NORM-contaminated sites, (3) prevention to improve production economics, and (4) bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils. A special symposium focused on innovative technologies for subsurface characterization and remediation. One topic discussed was use of signature metabolites to confirm anaerobic intrinsic biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons. This presentation also featured new data on the anaerobic biodegradation of aliphatic hydrocarbons. Other topics included thermally enhanced surfactant remediation, asphalt encapsulation of contaminated soils, and recent innovations in the treatment of brine-contaminated soils. Fourteen different technology sessions covered the gamut from legal and regulatory to pollution prevention and minimization to cleanup. Multiple sessions addressed cleanup. Case studies documenting field performance technologies were sprinkled throughout the technical programs.

The Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium (IPEC) and The University of Tulsa, Division of Continuing Education organized the conference in collaboration with DOE's National Petroleum Technology Office, EPA, and the Waste-Management Education & Research Consortium. Many organizations and companies also supported the conference as co-sponsors.

A CD with full conference proceedings is being developed and will be available in spring 2001. To reserve your copy, please contact TU's Division of Continuing Education 918-631-3088 or conted_cee@utulsa.edu.

For more information contact: Kerry L. Sublette, Chemical Engineering Department, The University of Tulsa, phone: 918-631-3085.

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DOE Makes 7 Environmental Project Awards

Reprinted from the "PTTC Network News," 4th Quarter 2000

As part of its environmental program, DOE recently picked seven projects to receive awards within its upstream environmental program. Example projects from among the seven include:

• Developing Mitigation Techniques and Best Management Practices for Coalbed Methane Production Using Geospatial Analysis Methods - Arthur, Langhus, Layne LLC

• Multiple Projects in Support of State Regulation of Domestic Petroleum Exploration and Production - Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission

• Field Test of TDA's Direct Oxidation Process for Sulfur Recovery (natural gas treating) - TDA Research, Inc.

Details on all seven projects are contained in a DOE-issued techline http://www.fe.doe.gov/techline/tl_oilgasenviron_
7proj.html.

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Profitable (and Environmentally Friendly) Reduction in Methan Emissions

EPA's Natural Gas STAR Program reported that its production partners reported 17.4 Bcf of methane emission reductions during 1999. Tulsa World front page headline on Dec. 2 "Natural Gas Price Hits Record High ($6.67 on NYMEX)". Do you see opportunities for you?

EPA STAR will work with regional associations to deliver free one-day workshops to provide a forum in which producers receive and share detailed information about cost-effective practices for reduction of methane emissions. Contact Paul Gunning (phone 202-564-9736, email gunning.paul@epa.gov) for more information. Also, visit their website http://www.epa.gov/
gasstar for Best Management Practices, technical presentations, lessons learned and how you can participate.