New Penn State Frack Wastewater “Study” Beats a Dead Horse

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Not long after Michael Krancer was appointed Secretary of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection in 2011, he “requested” (which was more order than request) that municipal sewage treatment plants still accepting and processing Marcellus drilling wastewater stop the practice. At the time there were 15 plants accepting Marcellus wastewater. Under pressure from Krancer, they ended the practice in May 2011 (see PA DEP, Marcellus Shale Coalition Admit Drilling Wastewater Likely Contaminating Drinking Water). His prescience was rewarded. A year later there were far lower bromide levels in PA rivers (see Marcellus Wastewater Ban Leads to Lower Bromide in PA Rivers). That’s how things should work: the state looks after its own environment. But that means less power for the power-mad bureaucrats in Washington, DC. Right on cue, before Obama was ejected from office next January 2017, his out-of-control EPA issued rules that do what Krancer did without a new law back in 2011. The EPA has issued a new regulation (i.e. unlegislated law) that declares no municipal sewage treatment plant in any state (not just PA) can accept and process shale wastewater (see EPA Bans Disposal of Frack Wastewater at Public Sewer Plants). Researchers at Penn State thought it would be fun to study this issue that no longer exists–disposing frack wastewater via municipal sewage treatment plants. They found evidence of “lasting environmental damage” in Conemaugh River Lake, claiming the damage came from Marcellus Shale wastewater treated at two centralized waste treatment (CWT) facilities years ago. Uh, OK. We already knew that. We already stopped it. But mainstream fake news is now treating this new “study” as some sort of revelation, implying one can never recycle frack wastewater again without grave consequences. More nonsense…

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