Municipalities of Emmen and Coevorden agree with injection of wastewater from oil extraction in an empty gas field

The NAM is perfectly capable of injecting the waste water from oil extraction in Schoonebeek into an empty gas field below the village. That is the opinion of the mayor and aldermen of the municipalities of Emmen and Coevorden.

They come to this conclusion on the basis of additional research by research agency TNO. However, the two municipalities have a few conditions. For example, injecting must be done safely, the care table must reach good agreements and part of the proceeds from oil extraction must end up in the region.

The municipalities are only allowed to advise on how NAM should process the waste water. The decision on whether or not to inject wastewater lies with the Ministry.

The NAM commissioned engineering firm Royal HaskoningDHV to investigate the possibilities of wastewater treatment. This concerns the possibility of fully or partially purifying the waste water up to and including the possibility of injecting untreated waste water into an empty gas field.

According to the engineering firm and NAM, injecting into an empty gas field is the best option with the least impact on the environment.

The municipalities of Emmen and Coevorden and the province have asked research agency TNO and water technology institute KWR to examine the research report of Royal HaskoningDHV. So a second opinion.

Alderman René van der Weide of the municipality of Emmen and alderman Jeroen Huizing van Coevorden were surprised by the outcome. TNO and KWR conclude that RHDHV is too optimistic about the alternatives with full or partial water treatment. These purification techniques are not yet available on an industrial scale. TNO and KWR ‘are concerned about both the ultimate water quality and the possibilities that this offers for commercially marketing the residuals (especially salt)’.

With regard to the circular alternative of former Shell engineer Gert Colenbrander (purify water, reuse it again and again as steam for oil extraction and put the salty residues back in the oil field), TNO and KWR conclude that this method has too many obstacles. ‘The treatment of this type of water for reuse or injection into the subsurface is very challenging and so far has rarely been successful in large-scale applications.’

The construction of a mega water purification plant and all previous test setups are also estimated too positively. According to TNO and KWR, this will take at least five to six years and not four years.

Based on the second opinion, the two aldermen understand NAM’s preference to inject the waste water directly into the empty Schoonebeek gas field. Although the State Supervision of Mines still has to assess the license application. “Only then will it become clear whether it is indeed safe and responsible to inject production water into the subsoil of Schoonebeek. We will continue to monitor this critically,” said the aldermen.

TNO and water technology institute KWR conclude that raw water injection into the empty gas field as well as partial purification of waste water and injecting the residual flow into the gas field are feasible.

Why then do both municipalities, just like the NAM, choose to inject the untreated wastewater into an empty gas field? Alderman René van der Weide says about this: “Partial purification and reuse is still much more difficult to implement than injecting.”

Alderman Huizing agrees, although he still mentions an essential condition. “It is important to us that the pipelines are used safely. The NAM has promised to build all pipelines with new materials. Plastic instead of steel, so less corrosion and the risk of leakage. That is an important difference with how the waste water is Twente went into the bottom.”

In addition, it is important for both municipalities to look at the CO2 emissions of oil extraction in Schoonebeek. For example, a lot of natural gas is still being used to get the oil to the surface. Steam is added to the petroleum so that it is easier to get to the top. If you can have electric boilers do this work with wind turbines, that saves a lot of natural gas.

Both aldermen are confident that good agreements will be made at the care table about monitoring legal obligations, baseline measurements and what will be done if things do go wrong above or below ground.

Both councilors know for sure. These conditions will partly become part of permits. And thus part of the supervision by the State Supervision of Mines.

At the unburdening table are from the area Dorpsbelangen Schoonebeek, Industriekring Schoonebeek, Natuurvereniging Stroomdal, LTO and individual residents from Schoonebeek and hamlets. Naturally, NAM and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are also at the table.

Emmen and Coevorden want money from oil extraction in the region to be used. The two aldermen now find the distribution of the oil revenue unbalanced. For example, the billions of proceeds go to the Dutch state and the parent companies of NAM, Shell and ExonMobile.

That is not to say that there is no economic benefit to the region at all. The Schoonebeek Oil Extraction Survey shows that approximately 300 jobs in the region are directly related to oil extraction. About 20 million is spent annually in the region, of which 2 million in Schoonebeek.

Huizing and Van der Weide are confident that agreements will eventually be made with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZK) and NAM. State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief is also aiming for this in the new mining law. The councilors declined to name an amount. They have called in a scout who will be conducting conversations in the near future.

In the end, it is not decided by the municipalities, the province or at the care table how NAM should deal with the waste water. That is what the ministry is about. The NAM applies for the permit from the Ministry. The State Supervision of Mines may still give advice on this, this organization mainly looks at safety. But in the end, the ministry decides. Interested parties can still appeal against that decision.

The municipal councils of Emmen and Coevorden will soon also be able to give their opinion on the position of both councils on waste water.

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