PA Congressman Ask EPA for “Assurances” re Wastewater Rule

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EPA-fingers-crossed.png11/3/16 Update: The Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA)–the only PA organization that represents both conventional and unconventional drillers–submitted comments to the EPA on Monday regarding this rule. PIOGA is urging the EPA to extend existing guidelines for an additional three years to allow PA’s conventional drillers an opportunity to work on alternative disposal methods. See a copy of the comments submitted below.

In June MDN reported on yet another new unlegislated law (called a “rule”) issued by the rogue federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that bans the disposal of wastewater from oil and gas drilling via public wastewater/sewage treatment plants (see EPA Bans Disposal of Frack Wastewater at Public Sewer Plants). The rule is meant to ban wastewater coming from unconventional (shale) wells, and not conventionally drilled oil and gas wells, which are shallow wells compared to shale wells. However, conventional drillers in Pennsylvania raised the alarm that the way the rule is written, it will prevent them from disposing their shallow (and much lower volumes of) wastewater by carting it to the local sewage treatment plant–as many of them do now (see EPA Shale Wastewater Rule Will Crush PA’s Conventional Drillers). The upshot is that the EPA needs to revise its rule. But it hasn’t, and that has three PA congressman asking the EPA for “assurances.” We’re not holding our breath on that one…

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