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Wetzel County Tries to Derail New Rules for WV Drill Cuttings

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is expected to file revisions this week to 33CSR1, the Solid Waste Management Rule, that deal with landfill acceptance of drill cuttings. Until now the state has been operating under “emergency rules” put in place earlier this year. The WVDEP is expected to make those emergency rules permanent as part of of 33CSR1. This issue has been hotly debated in WV since last year when anti-drillers attempted to make a big deal of it (see WV Anti-Drillers Continue to Harp on Drill Cuttings in Landfills). The state legislature, in a special session, passed a bill earlier this year to allow the WVDEP to adopt the emergency rules until final rules are enacted after a process of public hearings (see WV Drill Cuttings in Landfill Bill Passes in Record Time). At the final public hearing in Charleston last week, the Wetzel County Solid Waste Authority submitted two studies they funded on this issue that they say raises troubling questions about the proposed “final” rules…
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Delaware Riverkeeper Wins Right to Get Half-Baked Radiation Data

In January 2013 the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced they would study the issue of radiation levels in shale oil and gas waste (see PA DEP Announces New Study of Radiation in Shale Drilling). The study would take an estimated 12-14 months. That time has come and gone. The DEP is finished with its data collection–but not quite done with analyzing, verifying and (eventually) publishing the results. Not good enough for the Delaware Riverkeeper (the eccentric Maya van Rossum, see Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) Gets a French Kiss from Phila. Inquirer). The litigious van Rossum via her DRN filed an appeal to get her hands on the preliminary/unsubstantiated/unvetted data collected by the DEP–and she won…
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Scranton Landfill Gets Permission to Process Liquid Frack Waste

MDN has long covered stories about PA’s third busiest landfill, the Keystone Sanitary Landfill, near Scranton. Why? Because they accept drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) from shale drilling. In March 2012 the landfill was allowed to increase their daily intake of Marcellus drill cuttings from 600 to 1,000 tons per day (see Scranton Landfill Request for More Shale Cuttings Approved). Then in October 2012 they filed to double capacity again, from 1,000 to 2,000 tons per day (see Scranton Landfill Wants to Double (Again) Shale Cuttings). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection approved that request as well. In April of this year Keystone filed a request that they be allowed to accept liquid fracking waste–so they can separate and landfill the solids, and return the water to the driller to be reused. That request has just been approved too…
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DEP Delays Scranton Landfill Expansion; Requires Study

The third busiest landfill in Pennsylvania is the Keystone Sanitary Landfill, located on the outskirts of Scranton. The Keystone Landfill accepts a great deal of drill cuttings–leftover dirt and rock from Marcellus drilling. MDN has long chronicled Keystone’s fight to first accept and then expand the landfill (see Scranton Landfill Request for More Shale Cuttings Approved and Scranton Landfill Wants to Double (Again) Shale Cuttings). Local officials objected to the expansion but eventually gave up (see Scranton Suburb Ends Objection to Shale Cuttings at Landfill). The Keystone Landfill is back with another request. But it’s not to expand outward–this time they want to expand skyward…
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Range “Sludge” in WV Landfill Not So Radioactive After All

The West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is telling everyone to calm down over so-called radioactive “sludge” being dumped in WV landfills. You may recall not long ago a load of drill cuttings was refused at a southwest PA landfill for being “too radioactive” and sent to a different landfill, owned by the same company as the PA landfill, in WV (see Range Radioactive Containers Sent to WV for Disposal). That got everyone up in arms–that Range was “secretly” shipping stuff that will make those poor hicks in WV glow in the dark. So the WVDEP slammed the door on any more imported “radioactive sludge” (see Curious: Everyone’s Happy with WV Ban on Imported Drilling Sludge). The WVDEP launched and investigation and found the so-called sludge, or drill cuttings, have next to no radioactivity…
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New Landfill Expansion in SWPA Aimed at Marcellus Drillers

Max Environmental has operated the Bulger hazardous waste landfill in Smith Township (Washington County), PA since 1958. The company plans to expand the landfill by 21 acres in order to handle an increase of drill cuttings and even liquid waste (which they will turn to solid waste) coming from Marcellus Shale drilling. First up is a public information meeting (sure to be a must-attend, and controversial) being held later this month. Then Max will file a formal application with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection. Max officials say it will likely take a good five years to receive a permit–such is how mind-numbingly slow the regulatory wheels turn these days…
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WV Reporter’s Dictation from Anti-Drilling Senator is Radioactive

We’ve come to expect reporters from the mainstream media to lie and endlessly repeat debunked myths in an effort to throw as much “stuff” against the proverbial wall to see what will stick, and to confuse readers. But it’s not often a reporter from a smaller West Virginia newspaper turns in an “article” so completely wrong it’s breathtaking, as John Sheely from the Martinsburg Journal News has just done. But then Sheely was just “reporting” (cheerleading? snookered by?) the load of bull being offered by WV Senator Donald Cookman (D-Hamshire)…
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Curious: Everyone’s Happy with WV Ban on Imported Drilling Sludge

Earlier this week MDN told you that a couple of containers with drilling sludge (mud, leftover rock and dirt) from Range Resources containing low levels of radioactivity were sent to a landfill in Bridgeport, WV for disposal (see Range Radioactive Containers Sent to WV for Disposal). The WV Dept. of Environmental Protection caught wind of it and has banned any further out-of-state shipments of drilling sludge from disposal in WV…
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Range Drilling Mud Trips Radioactive Alarm at Landfill in SWPA

run for the hillsRange Resources has confirmed that (run for the hills!) leftover drilling mud and dirt at a drill site in Washington County, PA has radioactivity levels slightly above background noise levels–a tad too high to be disposed of in a regular landfill. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calls it “Marcellus Shale drilling sludge with radioactivity.” Which is laughable, since the PPG doesn’t report on the myriad of times medical waste from hospitals is rejected from the very same landfills for setting off radioactivity alarms. Why don’t we ever see stories about “radioactive needles”?…
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Range Radioactive Containers Sent to WV for Disposal

Since we’re on the topic of “radioactive” and Range, a second story today from Washington County, PA involving Range Resources. Back in March, a couple of roll-off boxes (large steel containers) with…drilling mud? drill cuttings? sludge? we’re not sure…tripped an alarm at the Arden Landfill in Chartiers (Washington County)…
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PIOGA Issues “Plea” to Drillers for Drill Cutting Samples for Study

The Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) is putting out “a plea” for drillers in PA to lend a hand. PIOGA wants to prove to the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) that drill cuttings are not radioactive and not “laced” with dangerous chemicals. Why do they want to prove it? So that drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt when the borehole is drilled) can be recycled and used as fill on drilling sites, and as fill for construction sites in general. Problem is, the drillers are not cooperating…
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ODNR Allows Drill Cuttings to be Used for Construction, Roads

An interesting juxtaposition for MDN. We reported in a story today that PIOGA has put out a plea for drill cutting samples so they can perform a study that will prove to the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) that drill cuttings are not radioactive or laced with chemicals and that it’s safe to recycle them for use in things like fill for construction sites–and even road work. Recycling is good! The juxtaposition is Ohio, where the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) already allows the use of drill cuttings for such purposes–with a permit of course…
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NY Dem Senators Admit Hearing on Landfills Meant to Scare

New York’s anti-drilling (and stupid) Democrat State Senators have admitted (more or less) why they held a hearing on Tuesday about frack waste from Pennsylvania coming to NY landfills–to scare the $#%@ out of people (see NY Dem Senators Want to Ban PA Drill Cuttings from NY Landfills). Not only do they not want drilling in the state, they don’t want upstate communities to benefit from drilling in PA either. So pathetically small…
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NY Dem Senators Want to Ban PA Drill Cuttings from NY Landfills

drill cuttingsNot only do the anti-drilling Democrats in in the New York Senate want to keep shale drilling banned in the state (lack of drilling is destroying the upstate economy), now they also want to ban drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) from Pennsylvania from coming into the state for disposal in NY landfills. This has real implications. Currently, we’re aware of at least one landfill–in Chemung County–that accepts safe drill cuttings (see Radiation Testing Shows Marcellus Shale Drill Cuttings are Safe for Chemung County, NY Landfill). According to the Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli, “a lot of landfills” in upstate NY accept drill cuttings. The landfilling of drill cuttings (mined before fracking takes place and perfectly safe–it’s dirt and rock for heaven’s sake!) benefits all county residents by keeping landfill operating costs lower than they otherwise would be.

Now the radical, vicious anti-drilling Dems in the Senate want to take even that meager revenue away from upstate communities. The only conclusion you can draw is that they intentionally want to harm the residents of upstate NY…
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Loophole in WV Landfill Law for Drill Cuttings Raises Concern

Two months ago MDN brought you the news that a proposed bill to strengthen landfill requirements for Marcellus Shale drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling) in West Virginia had passed in a special session of the legislature (see WV Drill Cuttings in Landfill Bill Passes in Record Time). The new bill, proposed by the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection provides for a special cell where the waste is stored, leachate from that cell monitored, and special radiation detectors installed. All great protections.

The new bill also disallows the special cell for drill cuttings to be built in landfills that sit over top a “karst” topography (where there are a lot of underground caves, sinkholes, cracks and fast-moving underground streams). However, there is one loophole in the new law that recently came to light: If landfills above a karst topography area are happy with maintaining their current lower cap of 9,999 tons per day of solid waste, they can accept drill cuttings in the regular part of the landfill. One WV lawmaker is trying to get that changed, fearing the landfill in his karst district may decide to accept drill cuttings…
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CT Gets Ready to Temporarily Permanently Ban Frack Waste

Three weeks ago MDN told you that the Connecticut legislature was considering a permanent ban on frack wastewater being disposed anywhere in the state, to which we said maybe Pennsylvania should consider a ban on selling natural gas to the state (see CT May Pass Frack Wastewater Ban; Should PA Pass CT NatGas Ban?). Hey, it works great for Vlad Putin. Shut off the spigot for a week and listen to them squeal.

The CT Senate has reached a “compromise” on the proposed legislation. Instead of a permanent ban, they’ve vote instead on a “temporary” ban–until the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) can craft regulations to deal with fracking wastewater. Of course, DEEP is not very inclined to deal with it any time soon (see CT DEEP Wants Frack Waste Reclassified Hazardous to Keep It Away). So in the end, this is hocus pocus chicanery. The vote will happen, and frack waste will effectively be banned long-term from entering CT…
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