The concept of our company is centered on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material, but as we delve into the many aspects of the industrial and commercial sectors we have uncovered a huge market place for our mobile sandblasting technology. We are very excited about the future of The N.O.R.M. Inc. We thrive on solving a client's problem, and as a result saving the client time and money. The N.O.R.M. Inc. has successfully re-engineered a technology that has existed for decades. Sandblasting is a common service throughout Canada and presently there are facilities that recycle the same way, but they depend on their client to bring the business to them. Now The N.O.R.M. Inc. brings the sandblasting to the client, while keeping the safety of our technicians at a maximum and the environmental impact at a minimum. Both issues were diligently addressed even before manufacturing began on the first unit. What we have now is a mobile sandblasting system ready to go to any site and decontaminate N.O.R.M. Inc. contaminated items far beyond industry expectations.
What is the Present Situation regarding N.O.R.M. Inc.? The Canadian Government has given control to the provinces and territories to regulate the safe handling and waste disposal of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (N.O.R.M. Inc.) however they see fit. While some of the provinces and territories have regulatory practices in place, there are still a few studying this new (but old) radioactive contamination issue. We all want to do the right thing. Take pride in the fact that the oil and gas companies themselves strive to meet and exceed the regulatory guidelines and practices. In the past an oil and gas company's only choice was to send the contaminated articles from their sites to stationary facilities located in Alberta. The stationary facilities did such a great job that they soon became overloaded because they were the only major N.O.R.M. Inc. service available at the time. As demand for the service increased the price of that service quickly became a concern to the industry clientele. It wasn't because the stationary facilities became greedy; the cost had to increase to accommodate growth to meet demands for the industry.  Stationary facilities pay huge fees and bonds to provide the service required of their clientele. Since demand for N.O.R.M. Inc. services have increased greatly the present situation is not surprising. Oil companies pay huge fees and bonds as well. They use the land for any type of service they locate there, be it a well, a plant site, a battery, or storage location. The N.O.R.M. Inc. decontaminates the contaminated items and contains the waste stream right at the client's site. This way the client is not doubling up on paying for waste fees (theirs and the stationary facilities), and the contaminated items should not be handled by the general population. Unfortunately there are workers put into this situation every day when they have improper training as to the safe handling procedures or what to do in the event of an emergency during transport. This is not the fault of the workers, it is the fault of industry. The N.O.R.M. Inc. now offers a solution to this problem…   Why decontaminate N.O.R.M. Inc. contaminated articles on the client's site? The N.O.R.M. Inc. does not have to pass on costs associated with a stationary facility's operation in the eyes of the regulator. The regulator already charges fees to oil and gas companies for the same purpose. They pay the fees and let the service come to them. Because we are portable, so becomes the waste stream. Our average deposit to one of two waste facilities that operate in Western Canada is 120 liters through the technology we offer! We have been able to reduce waste streams through our special services by almost 95%. This alone lowers the burden on the salt caverns where radioactive waste streams are deposited. We run two man crews and our rates include both workers and equipment. When we perform a job for you, you will see enormous cost savings for a more efficient and time saving process. Concerning downhole equipment that is N.O.R.M. Inc. contaminated, the client incurs costs of sending the articles away to a stationary facility, paying fees of the decontamination and waste stream collected which in most cases is classified as liquid sludge in the amount of an average of 2 to 5 cubic meters.  Paying by the liter is much more cost effective than by the cubic meter. Then the client pays to have the equipment transported to a repair and testing facility, and susequently is charged to transport the articles back out into the field. If you are decontaminating a submersible in this way your downtime is greatly increased. The solution is to decontaminate on site, pay for a MUCH smaller waste stream, then send the tool directly to the repair and testing facility. Two days testing and repair and then back out to location and into the well. Presently oil and gas companies are just purchasing new submersibles if the old one is too contaminated for the repair and testing facility to handle. Those submersibles (or parts thereof) are then set aside and the submersible company sells the oil and gas client the new components, if not a complete submersible. When decontamination of the equipment is done on site directly after it comes out of the hole, there won't be any contamination issues at the repair and testing facility….The N.O.R.M. Inc.'s on site service saves oil and gas clients an enormous amount of money; and instead of the well being down for weeks, it's now only a matter days. The N.O.R.M. Inc.'s service is tremendous when you consider the points above and the cost savings experienced by the oil and gas client is exponential over time and The N.O.R.M. Inc.'s services become "the norm" for our clientele.   What about the environmental Risk? The N.O.R.M. Inc. is able to keep our radioactive waste streams to levels unheard of until now simply by recycling our blast media. We use specific blast media for specific jobs and tasks. No two jobs are alike, and by researching the best blast media for the job, we are able to reduce waste by an enormous amount. If we can use blast media that will not disintegrate on contact, we are able to reuse the media totally within our system. The media will never leave the technologically advanced system once introduced…it ultimately disintegrates and becomes part of the waste stream. Our technologically advanced system utilizes compressed air to recycle our blast media. When you are pushing air there has to be some type of exhaust system in place. Our exhaust system incorporates HEPA filter technology to insure none of the radioactive waste particulate, once removed from the contaminated article can become part of the environment. Once the contaminant is removed it is trapped within the system and will become part of the small waste stream that ultimately ends up at the waste facility about a week later. If an event does occur, our technicians are fully trained to calmly and safely decontaminate the area. One thing we have going for the environment is the reduced waste stream. The advantages while in transport to the waste facility do not have to clean up huge volumes of waste in liquid form. Our waste stream is not only contained in 20 liter pails, The N.O.R.M. Inc. incorporates a micelle encapsulation method to our liquid waste. As well the waste stream is gelled to create a suspension for the radioactive particulate. Thereby reducing possible doses to workers and creating a (what we refer to) a solid snotty gel that will keep the waste stream within it, and in the case of an environmental release does not allow the radioactive particulate an opportunity to contaminate the environment.   How expensive is this service? The N.O.R.M. Inc. has developed a technologically enhanced system which: Reduces incidental worker exposure Increases well productivity by dramatically reducing downtime We do not require a stationary footprint and always have the environment first on our priority list We have reduced radioactive waste streams by almost 95%! We charge one hourly rate for our crew and equipment For a fee we handle all of the lab analysis, so that our clients don't have to deal with this even though they own the waste stream Based on the results of the lab analysis, we provide the client with the complete package of paperwork so that the client can have the waste stream safely transported from their location to the radioactive waste facility of their choice   What Other Industries Do You Provide Services For? There are other sandblasting services available to the commercial and industrial consumer, but none have the vision nor the present technology of The N.O.R.M. Inc.'s equipment. We are able to bring the service to you because we have engineered a process to confidently address many other environmental issues. We provide services to the following industrial and commercial sectors: Manufacturing Mining Forestry Oil and gas Farming Construction Marine Air Rail Cities and Municipalities ….and the list is growing!   Services That The N.O.R.M. Inc. Provides… We are not only a mobile sandblasting company, we offer many other valuable services to a wide variety of industry. These are very specialized services that we provide and we make every effort to accommodate the client by making sure that we know the client's operation so that we may tailor our services directly to the client's needs. As you will see below we offer many other services that work toward enhancing any task we perform within our/and that of our clients industry.   A List of Our Special Services Radiation and N.O.R.M. Inc. Field Services              On site Decontamination/Remediation (Cradle-to-Grave) On site Decontamination and Decommissioning Waste Management and Disposal Transportation and Packaging NORM Consulting Plant Turnarounds (Pre surveys, Confined Space Entries, Safety) Public Safety and Communications Field Consulting   Training Radiation Safety NORM Awareness NORM R.S.O. Level 1 N.E.W. – Operator Level 2 N.E.W. – Supervisor Level 3 R.S.O. Certification Exposure Device Operator (C.E.D.O.) TDG Class 7 Radioactives Field Operations – Emergency Protocol   Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to learn a little bit about The N.O.R.M. Inc. Please keep in mind this website is a snapshot of our International Company. To learn more or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via any of the avenues you find under the "Contact" icon on our home page. And please keep checking back as the website will grow and change with the company. There are many new and exciting challenges and developments ahead in The N.O.R.M. Inc.'s future!