Gulf Coast Waste Disposal in Salt Caverns

The last significant factor at the Beaumont site was the surface receiving facilities fromthe standpoint of whether worthwhile modifications could be made to the design and/orinstallation. A review of the initial Moss Bluff receiving facility indicated areas ofimprovement for efficiency purposes (functionally the original design was more thanadequate). These areas of improvement included increased ramp area to allow moretrucks to unload simultaneously from three sides instead of one side, a below surfacepump gallery to provide a continuous submerged suction to the transfer pumps thuseliminating an intermediate submersible pump to lift the waste to the transfer pumps,higher volume “gun” lines to provide additional brine to the waste to reduce viscosity andaugment resuspension of solids and repositioning of tanks and other equipment tostreamline operations.Although the distance of transfer from the receiving basin to the cavern wellhead at theMoss Bluff facility is 2600 feet and has caused no operational issues, it was felt thatreducing any transfer distance would be beneficial from a power consumption standpoint.The receiving basin is anticipated to be within a 100 foot radius of the disposal cavernwellhead when construction is completed. Figure 5 is attached illustrating the generalsite layout of the surface facilities.