Risk Based Methodologies for Evaluating Petroleum Hydrocarbon Impacts at Oil and Natural Gas E&P Sites - Quiz

Quiz Question

1. Risk-based decision-making is the process of making environmental management decisions based upon an assessment of the potential risks that chemicals at a site may pose to human health and the environment.
True
False
2. The risk evaluation process, as originally set out by USEPA, involves some elements. They are:
Hazard identification
Exposure assessment
Toxicity (or dose-response) assessment
Risk characterization
All of the above
3. The saturates, also referred to as alkanes or paraffin’s, are comprised of three main subclasses based on the structure of their molecules: either straight chains, branched chains, or cyclic.
True
False
4. What does figure 1 illustrate about?
(Refer Pg 9)
CHEMICAL CLASSIFICATION OF PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS
MAIN GROUPS OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS IN CRUDE OIL
GAS CHROMATOGRAMS FOR TWO CRUDE OILS
None of the above
5. What does API stand for?
American Petroleum Institute
American Protection Institute
American Protection International
None of the above
6. Presence of hydrocarbons and trace metals in E&P wastes depend upon:
Nature of crude oil and unprocessed natural gas
Location of oil or gas
Type of natural gas processing
Extent of biodegradation
All of the above
7. The movement of a hydrocarbon mixture in the environment represents an important aspect of a risk assessment. It is this movement that can result in the exposure of a human or ecological receptor to the chemical.
True
False
8. The viscosity is defined as the temperature below which oil will not flow in a definite manner.
True
False
9. Condensates and selected refined petroleum products such as gasoline typically have higher benzene concentrations than crude oils.
True
False
10. Cryptographic equipment is used to ENCRYPT and DECRYPT tty messages that require security handling. (Encrypting is the method used to code a transmitted message; decrypting is used to decode a received message.)
I. The site setting, which depicts the relative locations of the hazards and potential receptors, is characterized,
II. Complete exposure pathways are identified, and
III. The magnitude of the potential exposure is estimated.
True
False
11. Exposure assessment is an extremely important element of the risk evaluation because it introduces site-specific factors into the characterization of the site risk.
True
False
12. Key challenges associated with using toxicity data are:
Extrapolating pure chemical test results to complex mixtures of chemicals
Extrapolating pure chemical test results to situations where the chemicals are present in soil
Extrapolating test results
All of the above
13. The hazard evaluation that is conducted as part of the risk evaluation of a site requires some level of understanding of the chemical composition of the hydrocarbons that are present in the soil and groundwater.
True
False
14. Weathering and natural attenuation processes can further reduce the risk associated with benzene at an E&P site, thereby resulting in an increase in TPH RBSLs in those instances where benzene is present in concentrations >300 mg/kg.
(Refer Pg 4-3)
True
False
15. What does PERF stand for?
Petroleum Environmental Research Forum
Petroleum Engineering Research Forum
Petroleum Engineering Research Foundation
None of the above
16. The mobility of hydrocarbon liquids in the environment does not depend upon their density (API gravity), viscosity (resistance to flow) and pour point as well as the properties and characteristics of the geologic strata (e.g., clays, silts, or sands).
True
False
17. E&P wastes are generated by the primary field operations at an oil or gas exploration and production site. Primary field operations include exploration, development, and the primary, secondary, and tertiary production of oil or gas.
True
False
18. What does TPH stand for?
Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon
Total Petroleum Hydraulics
Total Petro-Chemical Hydrocarbons
None of the above
19. There are a number of commercially available software tools for estimating risk-based screening levels for complex mixtures of hydrocarbons and single indicator chemicals, such as benzene, when they represent the primary risk issue at a site.
True
False
20. The Environmental Protection Agency of the United States (U.S. EPA) has developed a general framework for health risk-based decision making and has established general guidelines for determining what constitutes acceptable risk. These guidelines can be used to determine when some type of action is required at a site.
True
False