Oil Well Piping- Radiation

I've done some searching for key phrasing like "oil well pipe", "radiation", etc. and haven't found much info on this topic.

So here is the situation: A friend of mine installed some drainage tile in a corn field and in the process he came across some abandoned steel oil well piping and a significant quantity of it. He removed it all from the field and took it to a couple different yards in the area and the radiation alarms were set off at both of the yards.

Has anybody ever experienced this?

It's called NORM. Naturally occurring radioactive material. It comes from the ground and is in almost everything. Some of the highest being peanuts and potatoes. Drill pipe has a lot of it sometimes and is usually put in a lay down yard if the reading is too high. I don't know what to do about your situation but I figured I would share what I knew about it.

Originally Posted by toula

It's called NORM. Naturally occurring radioactive material.

Thanks for the info
Lead me to some interesting reading
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM)

Thanks for that info. Is it possible that the radioactive material is primarily in the soil that is still on the pipe? Or is it likely that the steel itself would have become radioactive?