Mercury Waste from Produced Gas

Legislation

Key Legislation

EU Regulation 1102/2008 on the banning of exports of metallic mercury and certain mercury compounds/mixtures (pdf file)
UK Mercury Export and Data (Enforcement) Regulations 2010

EU Regulation No. 1102 / 2008 implements the objectives of the Community Strategy Concerning Mercury (adopted in 2005) which are to reduce the supply of, and demand for, mercury in order to protect human health and the environment.

On 8 March 2010, the UK Mercury Export and Data (Enforcement) Regulations 2010 (the “UK Mercury Regulations”) However, the offences concerning `mercury exports’ / `mixing of mercury with other substances for export purposes’ come into force on 15 March 2011; and the offences concerning the `reporting of data by importers / exporters of mercury’ enter force on 1 July 2012. The Regulations apply (as appropriate) to all offshore installations that carry out activities such as oil and gas exploration / production, and gas unloading / storage (see further details in Section 2).

Guidance Notes

Consent Needed and How to Obtain It

Consent Needed	No Consent required however DECC will regard the licensed Operator (i.e. the licence holder) as being responsible for ensuring that the provisions of the EU Mercury Regulation are complied with. Where the platform is operated on behalf of the licence holder by another company, the licence holder will need to assure itself that adequate measures are in place to meet the regulatory requirements. See Reporting for regulatory obligations.
How to Apply	N/a
Who to Apply to	N/a
When to Apply	N/a

Performance Standards

Export of mercury

Exports of metallic mercury (Hg), cinnabar ore, mercury (I) chloride (Hg2Cl2), mercury (II) oxide (HgO) and mixtures of metallic mercury with other substances (including alloys of mercury with a mercury concentration of at least 95% by weight and the mixing of metallic mercury with other substances for the sole purpose of exporting metallic mercury from the EU is prohibited from 15 March 2011.

It appears to be the case that offshore Operators do not export any mercury that is gained as a by-product of their operations i.e. any quantities of mercury would be sent to onshore storage / disposal facilities. Consequently, the requirements of these Articles are not expected to have much (if any) impact on the offshore industry. Nonetheless, in the unlikely event that any Operators should decide to export outside the EU mercury obtained through operational processes (i.e. as a commercial product) then they would have to comply with the prohibition described above

Mercury waste storage and disposal

Metallic mercury gained from the cleaning of natural gas is considered waste as from 15 March 2011 and Operators that undertake such operations should ensure it is disposed of in a way that is safe for human health and the environment.

A new EU Decision outlining requirements for the storage and handling of mercury waste is expected (see Pending Legislation). Until this time, operators should continue sending mercury waste to shore in line with guidelines on existing legislation for the containment / shipment of hazardous waste. The responsibility for ensuring the safe storage / disposal of such mercury would reside with the vendors taking delivery of it.

Sampling/Monitoring Requirements

Sampling Requirements

None (also see Reporting)

Reporting Requirements

What to Report

Mercury Gained

Total annual quantity (in kgs) of mercury gained from the cleaning of natural gas (i.e. the use of mercury extraction systems to remove mercury from natural gas so that it can meet pipeline specifications)

Total annual quantity (in kgs) of any mercury that is sent to individual temporary or permanent storage / disposal facilities (including the location and contact details of these facilities) during the previous calendar year (i.e. 1 January to 31 December).

DECC’s Offshore Inspectorate is anticipating these reports and will store them for the purposes of undertaking any future actions that may arise in respect to the EU or UK Mercury Regulations.

Reports should be made using Annex A of the DECC Guidance Notes.

Import or Export of Mercury and/or Mercury Waste

If any Operators import mercury, and / or send mercury as waste to other EU Member States, then by 1 July 2012, they should send a report (using the form at Annex B) on the:

total quantity, prices, originating country and destination country / area as well as the intended use of mercury entering the Community (with respect to `mercury imports’ these too would be subject to Registration in accordance with the EU REACH Regulation); and
total quantity, originating country and destination country of mercury considered as waste that is traded cross-border within the Community.

However, it is highly unlikely that Operators would import mercury for operational use, and it is also conceivable that most (if not all) Operators would send mercury waste to storage / disposal facilities on the UK mainland - so these provisions are not expected to have much (if any) potential implications for the offshore industry.

Who to Report to

The European Commission
ENV-MERCURY@ec.europa.eu
Pavlos Mouratidis
European Commission - DG Environment
BU-9 4/163
B-1049 Brussels

Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
Energy Development Unit (EDU)
Offshore Environment and Decommissioning Branch (OED)
Offshore Inspectorate (offshore.inspectorate@decc.gsi.gov.uk)
4th Floor
86 - 88 Guild Street
Aberdeen
AB11 6AR

When to Report

Mercury Gained: By 31st May each year

Mercury Import/Export: By 1st July 2012

Non Compliance

Penalties

If an offence under these Regulations committed by a body corporate is shown:
(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer; or
(b) to be attributable to any neglect on the officer's part, the officer as well as the body corporate is guilty of the offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

A fine imposed on a partnership or unincorporated association on its conviction of an offence under these Regulations is to be paid out of the funds of the partnership or association.

A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations is liable —
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment not exceeding three months, or both; or
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.

Renewal and Variation

N/a

Pending Legislation

Reporting of Data by Importers and Exporters

Offences concerning the under the UK Mercury Regulations on reporting of data by importers / exporters of mercury enter force on 1 July 2012.

Storage/Disposal of Metallic Mercury Waste

The Commission is presently preparing a Decision relating to the storage / disposal of metallic mercury waste (as required by the EU Mercury Regulation). The Decision will amend the Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC by adding a new Annex IV which will set out the specific acceptance criteria and procedures for ensuring the safe storage / disposal of mercury waste. The EU Decision is expected to be adopted in Spring 2011 and come into effect in January 2012.

Operators will, in the not too distant future, be required to ensure that any mercury waste sent to onshore storage / disposal facilities meets the criteria for the containment of mercury which is to be set out in the impending EU Decision. At this stage, it is probable that the Decision will include provisions that will necessitate the placing of mercury waste - with a concentration of 99.9% purity - in 1 tonne containers prior to it being transferred to storage / disposal facilities. This might prove to be impractical from an offshore industry perspective (i.e. it may take some time for an installation Operator to recover quantities of mercury approaching 1 tonne and it might not meet the revised `purity' concentration level) and the transporting (for storage / disposal) of a few kilos of mercury in 1 tonne containers could also present logistical problems. Therefore, DECC has drawn Defra's attention to these potential difficulties, so that they can be raised during future negotiations with the Commission on the draft Decision. In the meantime, until the full details of the Decision are known and it has been adopted at EU level,

Future Revisions

No further mercury restrictions (such as the use of mercury in products) are expected until after the adoption of a global legally binding UN treaty - negotiations on which are expected to end in early 2013

Snippets

None at present