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WV Drilling Cuttings in Landfill Bill May Get 2nd Life, If…

Two days ago MDN told you about the West Virginia legislature’s failure to act on House Bill 4411 that would codify into law the current directive from the Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection that provides guidelines on accepting drill cuttings at landfills (see WV Legislature Fumbles the Ball on Landfill Bill, Does Nothing). It’s possible that the bill will get a second chance at legal life–if Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin calls for a special session and if the bill is on his list to consider. In WV the legislature meets for 60 calendar days at the beginning of they year, each year. They need to get their work done during those two months. After that, the Governor can call them back, but they can only take up those bills specified by the Gov.

Here’s more detail of what went on “behind the scenes” as WV legislature grappled with HB4411 during the closing days of the regular session:
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MDN’s Guide to New TENORM Rules for OH Utica Drillers

Last year, the Ohio state legislature passed an omnibus “everything but the kitchen sink is in there” bill (HB59) that covered, among other things, a requirement that oil and gas drillers need to test drilling waste for TENORM–or Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. Drillers need to test for TENORM (or naturally occurring radioactivity) in wastewater and drill cuttings under certain conditions, according to the legislation. MDN tracked down House Bill 59 and read it. We include the relevant section from the massive 699-page law below.

It appears to MDN’s eye that if OH shale drillers recycle the waste and re-use it on site (in the case of fluids), there is no need to test. Likewise, if they cart fluids to another nearby drill site for re-use, no need to test. If they dispose of it via a Class II injection well–no need to test. That covers about all of the ways Utica drillers handle liquid waste. It seems to us the only real requirement will be to test drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) for radioactivity before disposing of them in landfills. The reason this is news now is because the Ohio Dept. of Health was charged with drafting guidelines for how such materials should be sampled and analyzed to determine whether TENORM levels are high enough to warrant special treatment. The DOH recently released those guidelines, which OH drillers will now need to pay attention to when it comes to testing at the drill site…
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WV Legislature Fumbles the Ball on Landfill Bill, Does Nothing

Last week MDN asked the question, “Will WV Lawmakers Have Guts to Tackle Cuttings in Landfills Bill?” in the closing days of the WV legislative session. We now know that the answer is a resounding “no.” The proposed bill before lawmakers would have shored up, in law, the right of landfills to accept certain amounts of drilling cuttings from Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling (leftover rock and dirt). Landfills currently accept drill cuttings that exceed limits set elsewhere in law, based on a temporary directive by the Secretary of the WV DEP.

The problem with not passing a bill is that the Secretary’s authority to issue the directive (essentially a stand-in regulation until a law is passed) will, sooner or later, be challenged in court by anti-drillers with big bucks. And then a judge will decide what is properly a policy issue that should be decided legislatively. That is, lawmakers shirked their responsibility and it spells uncertainty ahead for both WV landfills and drillers…
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OH Anti-Drilling Nutters Prevent Safe Disposal of Drill Cuttings

Score a win for the anti-drillers in Ohio. They have successfully blocked a promising new technology by lying about what it does and can do for the drilling industry. Last September MDN told you the story of an innovative new Ohio company–Ohio Soil Recycling (OSR)–that has figured out how to turn shale drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) into clean fill dirt–in 24 hours flat (see OH Company Turns Drill Cuttings into Clean Fill Dirt in 24 Hours). Because some drill cuttings (some, not all) contain very low levels of naturally occurring radioactivity, a fanatical group of nutters called Radioactive Waste Alert (RWA) went on a PR rampage using a big, lying billboard ad to try and suppress this promising new technology (see Radioactive Bilge Emanates from ‘Radioactive Waste Alert’ in OH).

Once again headlines and soundbites rule the day as RWA now claims they have successfully stopped OSR. It’s a sad day–the RWA has made everyone in Ohio less safe than they could have been. But such is the twisted worldview of anti-drilling nutters like those in the RWA. Here’s the “we’re crowing about screwing OSR” announcement from RWA:
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ShaleNavigator Service Adds Frack Waste Facilities Layer to Maps

As many MDN readers know, MDN editor Jim Willis partners with Ed Camp from ShaleNavigator, using ShaleNavigator’s top-notch mapping software to create the marvelous maps found in the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook series. Ed maps the most recent round of permits issued (over the previous four months) on county maps, showing driller name and location for each volume of the Databook. But the maps show a lot more than just permit locations–like major natural gas pipelines, the locations of compressor stations and over a dozen other “layers” available to users of the ShaleNavigator service.

You can now add one more layer to the service: the location of waste facilities used by Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers. You may also recall that the most recent volume of the Databook, Volume 3, contains that very information: a complete list (with addresses and phone numbers) for waste facilities. Ed has used the location data for those waste facilities and added a new layer for users of his excellent service. The press release is below. Be sure to give ShaleNavigator a try by signing up for a free 7-day trial account…
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Will WV Lawmakers Have Guts to Tackle Cuttings in Landfills Bill?

Two weeks ago MDN told you about a House Bill (HB) 4411, actively under consideration by the West Virginia state legislature, that would codify into law the right for landfills in the state to accept Marcellus and Utica Shale drill cuttings (see WV Bill to Allow More Drill Cuttings in Landfills Faces Opposition). At the time a parade of speakers spoke against the bill with one speaker (from the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia) speaking in favor. The bill would codify into law the right for landfills to accept larger amounts of cuttings, which anti-drillers object to because it encourages more drilling.

What we didn’t know at the time is why the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection is supporting the bill: because it will codify into law the protections they drafted as a temporary measure (now in place). Yes, protections, like separating the cuttings into their own cell within a landfill, the use of special liners, and lechate monitoring. The DEP is keeping a close eye on this issue and believes the proper place to have the debate about it, along with a resolution to the debate, is in the state legislature–if they have the intestinal fortitude to address it…
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WV Bill to Allow More Drill Cuttings in Landfills Faces Opposition

MDN told you in stories both yesterday and today about WV House Bill (HB) 4558 that would allow forced pooling in the state–a bill that seems headed for defeat. However, there is a second House Bill actively under consideration related to the Marcellus/Utica drilling industry in the state. HB 4411 would establish in law that WV municipal landfills can legally accept over the current legal monthly maximum limit of drill cuttings for disposal (full copy of the bill is embedded below). Last year the WV DEP issued a directive that allows landfills to accept drill cuttings over the maximum 10,000 tons, something that some landfills have done since that time (in some cases landfills are accepting up to 40 tons per month). Apparently HB 4411 will codify the DEP directive into law, meaning future administrations can’t arbitrarily decide to rescind the more generous directive in place now.

A House hearing was held yesterday on HB 4411. Of the 20 speakers who addressed the House panel, 19 of them spoke against the law. The sole supporter was Charlie Burd, executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia. Here’s more of the story on disposing of drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) in municipal landfills…
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Setting the Record Straight on PA Drill Cuttings Going to NY Landfill

Every now and again it’s necessary to run around and clean up the poopy mess made by reckless and inaccurate claims from anti-drillers. It’s a distasteful but necessary job that needs to be done, otherwise the mental feces they leave strewn all around would begin to pile up.

With respect to inaccurate claims made by anti-drillers (with faux outrage) over drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) from PA shale wells that go to the Chemung County Landfill just across the border in NY, Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli is on clean-up duty. Hey, somebody has to do it, so with plastic bag in hand…
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Tackling a Serious Issue: Low Level Radioactivity in Drill Waste

There are a number of problems to be addressed and resolved when it comes to shale drilling–issues like truck traffic, noise, lights at night and yes, wastewater and drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling). MDN has never shied away from discussing those issues–we need to discuss them openly and honestly for that’s the only way we solve them. Simply saying those issues are unsolvable and therefore drilling should never happen is an unreasonable and intellectually dishonest position, yet that’s what many anti-drillers do. Case in point: a single anti-driller’s objection to Washington County, OH company Envirotank Clean’s request to handle and blend semi-liquid drill cuttings that have low levels of naturally occurring radioactivity to make it safe for disposal at certified landfills ready to take it.

Envirotank wants a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources to begin accepting what is called TENORM, or technologically-enhanced naturally-occurring radioactive material. In a self-defeating argument a single, solitary anti-driller who will no doubt recruit more to her side, says any amount of radioactive material is unsafe. We hate to tell her, but she may want to stay away from the local hospital where there’s lots of radioactive material–material that often sets off radiation alarms at landfills. Should hospitals ban cancer treatments because it produces TENORM material? According to her logic, yes…
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CT DEEP Wants Frack Waste Reclassified Hazardous to Keep It Away

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is concerned that fracking waste–both wastewater and drill cuttings–may end up coming to the state. So DEEP has asked CT legislators to consider a bill that will reclassify fracking waste as hazardous waste–even though the federal government itself doesn’t consider fracking waste “hazardous.” Apparently the DEEPers are afraid that those wily shale drillers will sneak across the border and contaminate the pristine wilds of CT, so they want to put severe restrictions on frack waste hauling with the aim of just keeping it away.

Here’s the DEEPer story:
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Glow-in-the-Dark Bob Hagan: Shrill and Nutty

Ever notice that when anti-drillers can’t seem to convince the public of their views, they get nuttier? They start spinning wild yarns, like all that fracking waste is radioactive and we’re going start glowing in the dark any day now. That’s the kind of wild tale being spun by Youngstown, OH Rep. Bob Hagan (Democrat).

Because not enough Ohioans are turning against Utica Shale drilling, it’s time to ratchet up the rhetoric and old Bob is ready to pour it on. Here’s his latest glow-in-the-dark warning…
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Glow in the Dark: Are We Being Irradiated by Frack Waste?

radioactive zombiesThe fear-mongering continues by those who oppose shale drilling. One of the scare tactics used by anti-drillers is to say that frack wastewater and drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt) are loaded with radiation and by disposing of it in landfills and via wastewater recycling facilities we’ll all end up irradiated, dying long slow deaths from cancer. Or worse yet, we’ll all become radioactive zombies. Hey, maybe someone could make a movie about that! (Unbelievably, they already have: see Friday Foibles: The Scientific Link Between Fracking and Zombies.)

The Ohio EPA and Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) is not much impressed by all these radioactivity claims. Neither are we. One of the favorite drive-by media claims is that drill cuttings are setting off radiation alarms at landfills in record numbers (“hundreds” of times a year). Thing is, those same alarms go off when medical waste is hauled in too–they’re that sensitive that even radioactive dyes are picked up by them. It proves NOTHING. Yet you see that argument often used–fracking dirt contains radition! Whatever. Here’s the latest drive-by attempt to scare people with radioactive waste concerns, this one emitted by the Columbus Dispatch…

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WV Anti-Drillers Continue to Harp on Drill Cuttings in Landfills

Anti-drillers in West Virginia continue to beat the drums about drill cuttings (leftover rock, dirt and mud from shale drilling) being disposed of in landfills. The claim they make is that the state “quietly” carved out a “loophole” earlier this year that allows untold mountains of radioactive dirt to be dumped willy-nilly in the nearest landfill and as a result we’ll all be glowing in the dark any day now. Of course it’s bupkis, but it makes for great headlines.

Here’s the latest “keep the radioactive dirt issue alive” story from the AP, from a few weeks ago:
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WV Residents Express Concerns over Drill Cuttings in Landfills

Drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling wells) sometimes contains low levels of naturally occurring radiation–that’s a fact. The typical way of disposing drill cuttings is via landfill. Loads are tested for radiation to be sure it doesn’t exceed safe limits, but any time you use the “r” word folks understandably get a little bit antsy. Visions of nuclear waste dumps run through their heads. Recently a rash of media-manufactured stories have appeared that West Virginia has a “loophole” that allows dumping of “radioactive shale waste” in local landfills. That’s not happening, and as stated, when/if there’s radioactivity in the cuttings, it’s usually so low it’s below that of medical waste that goes to the landfill.

But the media has now done it’s job and people are in a dither about this issue. So it’s no surprise that in an area of WV where there is no shale drilling–the eastern panhandle–folks turned out in large numbers to express concern over drilling in general and landfilling of cuttings in particular that may (or may not) be happening in their area…
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Radioactive Bilge Emanates from ‘Radioactive Waste Alert’ in OH

Unfortunately the old Chinese proverb has come true: We live in interesting times. We live in a day and age when thinking, contemplation and logic are foreign concepts to many people. Instead, we get the pablum of headlines, sound bites and billboards. The latest pristine example of non-thinking comes from a billboard near Columbus, OH that targets a business doing great work for the shale drilling industry by recycling drill cuttings–the leftover dirt and rock from drilling a bore hole.

The billboard (see our Pinterest pics on right) says, “Don’t Frack My Water – Protect Columbus” and is sponsored by “RadioactiveWasteAlert.org” with a picture of a girl drinking what appears to be contaminated water from a bottle with a radioactive symbol on the side. It’s aimed at stopping Ohio Soil Recycling from doing the important work that they do (see OH Company Turns Drill Cuttings into Clean Fill Dirt in 24 Hours). What’s the average Columbus commuter going to think? Hopefully at least some of them won’t fall for this cheap shot–this un-thinking gimmick–from a fringe group of anti-fossil fuel nutters…
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OH Company Turns Drill Cuttings into Clean Fill Dirt in 24 Hours

An intriguing supply chain story that caught MDN’s eye: An Ohio company has figured out a way to speed up the work of Mother Nature in decomposing the nasty stuff that contaminates “drill cuttings”–the rock and soil left over from drilling natural gas or oil wells. Drill cuttings are typically hauled off to a landfill where it takes Mother Nature hundreds (sometimes thousands) of years to fully break down the chemicals (naturally and not-naturally occurring) in drill cuttings.

Ohio Soil Recycling greatly speeds up the natural process and turns drill cuttings into soil suitable for use as “clean fill dirt” in as little as 24 hours!…
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