Opinion ID: 705105
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sand Washing and Produced Sand Disposal

Text: 88 Petitioners contend that EPA ignored the requisite BAT factors, such as cost and nonwater quality environmental impacts. For example, Industry petitioners criticize EPA's decision not to attribute any transportation cost to the process of hauling produced sand to shore. As EPA counters, however, the amount of produced sand is so minimal and irregular that existing barges that transport barrels of product or that service the offshore platforms are capable of carrying the produced sand to shore. 89 Industry petitioners also criticize EPA's failure to factor in the higher cost of disposing of produced sand that contains radionuclides (NORM). Industry petitioners are wrong. EPA did address this possibility and in its cost estimate provided for disposal of that produced sand containing NORM. Furthermore, EPA's Development Document points out that sand washing reduces only oil content, leaving radionuclides in the sand. Therefore, even washed sand that still contains NORM must be transported to shore for disposal under existing Minerals Management Service (MMS) guidelines. 90 Industry petitioners also argue that EPA had inadequate information to formulate technology standards for produced sand. This argument fails, however, because EPA relied on scientific data from several sources. Although EPA acknowledges that one set of data, the OOC survey, was not complete without several years of data (which was not available at the time of rulemaking), EPA has broad discretion in its selection of data and in its method of calculation. Reynolds Metals Co. v. EPA, 760 F.2d 549, 565 (4th Cir.1985) (citing Hercules, Inc. v. EPA, 598 F.2d 91, 108 (D.C.Cir.1978)); American Petroleum Institute v. EPA, 540 F.2d 1023, 1035-36 (10th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 922, 97 S.Ct. 1340, 51 L.Ed.2d 601 (1977). An agency's discretion is especially broad when it involves highly scientific or technical considerations. Reynolds Metals Co., 760 F.2d at 565. The cost-and-energy-related issues raised by Svedala and the Industry petitioners are within the discretion of EPA. 91 Industry petitioners argue further that sand-washing technologies are capable of removing 100 percent of the oil in produced sand. According to these petitioners, if all of the oil is not removed the first time, the produced sand can be washed again to remove the remaining pollutant. The data collected by the EPA, however, shows that sand-washing technologies are not so reliable. In fact, some sands containing heavy oils cannot be washed thoroughly enough to meet the much less stringent no free oil standard previously in place. 22 92 Industry petitioners also claim that EPA failed adequately to address the comments of other departments on the topic of zero discharge of produced sand. As EPA points out, however, the comments from MMS and DOE came only two days before the Final Rule was to be signed. Furthermore, EPA left the door open to continue to accept comments on produced sand in the future with the possibility of revising the zero discharge rule later.