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<br />~ <br />--.1 <br />~ For this second scheme, the estimated costs (on an annualized basis) <br />C) of wastewater management would run anywhere from about 1.5 to 3 cents per <br />million Btu of output. By way of comparison, the total cost of producing <br />crude shale oil is estimated to be in the range of at least $2.50-3.00 per <br />million Btu. <br /> <br />Modified In-situ Retorting of Oil Shale. Two major water treatment <br />and disposal problems present themselves in the modified in-situ retontirig <br />of oil shale, assuming that the industry is located in the Piceance Creek <br />Basin of Colorado. The first is the treatment of bnackish mine drainage <br />water of up to 16 million gallons per day per 57,000 barrel per day facility <br />(=18,000 acre-feet per year) which may be encountered. Part of this water <br />would be treated for use in the plant, while any excess drainage water <br />would have to be either reinjected or treated for discharge to a surface <br />stream. Associated with this treatment is the disposal of large volumes <br />of concentrated waste equal to about 15 percent of the water to be treated. <br />The second major problem is the treatment for internal plant use of the <br />large quantities of foul water generated in the retorting process. <br /> <br />There are major difficulties in assessing treatement and disposal <br />costs at this time. These stem from the fact that detailed information <br />on the quantity, and particularly the quality, of the mine and retort <br />waters is not k~own with any degree of certainty. All estimates must there- <br />fore be used with great caution as they can only be considered educated <br />guesses in a number of instances. <br /> <br />With this caveat in mind, it is estimated that wastewater treatment <br />costs would run anywhere from about 5 to 14 cents per million Btu of output, <br />depending primarily upon the quantity and quality of any excess mine drainage <br />water. This compares to a total cost for producing crude shale oil of at <br />least $2.50-3.00 per million Btu. <br /> <br />cxXV <br />