Pitt Discovers Better, Cheaper Way to Recycle Shale Wastewater
Engineers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering are developing a new way to reduce the environmental impact of drilling and fracking by cleaning produced water for reuse. Produced water is the water that comes out of the hole long after drilling and fracking is done. It is “water from the depths”–far below the water table–and it’s full of minerals, which is why it’s often called brine (or salt). Pitt engineers have researched membrane distillation (MD) to treat this salty wastewater. Pitt has discovered how to use MD to economically recycle and reuse produced water from shale.
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Not content to prosecute years-old accidents as “crimes” for the shale industry in his zeal to attack fossil energy, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a vicious radical running for governor this November, is now targeting mom and pop conventional drillers too. Specifically, he is investigating conventional drillers for spreading non-toxic brine on PA’s dirt roads in the summertime, a legal practice in the Keystone State (at least it was legal until last December), looking to prosecute someone, anyone, to grab another headline and stoke his radicalized base of supporters.
One year ago, in March 2021, Eureka Resources announced plans to build a Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment facility in Dimock (Susquehanna County), Pennsylvania (see 
Plum Boro (Allegheny County, PA) officials and environmental leftist groups (backed by Big Green foreign money) are gearing up to oppose Plum’s second wastewater injection well with smears and lies. A long-fought-over wastewater injection well in Plum finally opened for business in mid-2021, having overcome all sorts of smears and slanders and lawsuits by the enviro-left (see 
A long-fought-over wastewater injection well in Plum Boro (Allegheny County, Pittsburgh suburb) finally opened for business earlier this year, having overcome all sorts of smears and slanders and lawsuits by the enviro-left (see 
Nuverra Environmental Solutions (formerly Heckmann) is one of the largest companies in the United States that handles the transportation and disposal of shale drilling wastewater and leftover rock and dirt from drilling. The company has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. Because of the company’s major operations in the M-U, we keep track of its performance. Quarter after quarter after quarter, for well over a year, the company has lost money (
Anti-fossil fuelers at Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services and the FracTracker Alliance are asking Pennsylvania residents to report the road spreading of oil and gas wastewater. Bear in mind such spreading is legal (if it’s conventional oil and gas wastewater). Also bear in mind other sources of water are sometimes spread on dirt roads in PA, so there’s no practical way to tell if the water you see being spread came from a conventional well or a nearby creek. In essence, these anti groups want to turn PA residents into rats and snitches in hopes of…what? Proving that a legal activity is taking place?
We have some exciting, and exclusive, news to share with the MDN audience. We previously told you that the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) was behaving like a child, dragging its collective heels to prevent two side-by-side injection wells in Belmont County developed by Omni Energy from beginning operation (see 
A long-fought-over wastewater injection well in Plum Boro (Allegheny County, Pittsburgh suburb) finally opened for business earlier this year, having overcome all sorts of smears and slanders and lawsuits by the enviro-left (see 
If this doesn’t prove that the environmental left isn’t really interested in the environment, but instead only in their leftist (Communistic) policies, nothing will prove it to you. A radical faction of Physicians for Social Responsibility calling itself “Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania” (a false statement if ever there was one) is actively, aggressively trying to end the ability of Pennsylvania’s fracking companies to recycle wastewater (brine) that comes from naturally-occurring water deep in the ground. They figure if they can stop fracking’s green recycling program, maybe they can shut down fracking period. Sick.
During a meeting of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board yesterday, DEP staffers said they are still evaluating whether or not it is appropriate to develop a regulation covering road dumping of conventional oil and gas drilling wastewater. The staffers noted there is currently a ban on giving permission for road dumping from the Oil and Gas Program. However, the same staffers, namely Scott Perry, DEP Deputy for Oil and Gas Management, neglected to say that wastewater is still used to treat PA’s dusty rural roads through a program under the DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management. Antis are hopping mad.
Once again the issue of whether or not to use conventional (not shale) wastewater and its byproducts is in the news. The issue has long been debated in Pennsylvania. Earlier this week we brought you news from a recent study that finds more studies should be done on the issue of using brine wastewater to treat dusty roads in PA (see 
Researchers at Penn State evaluated eight oil and gas wastewaters (i.e. brines), waste soybean oil, and commercial dust suppressants, comparing them to see how well they controlled particle pollution on simulated patches of road. If you believe the headlines about the study, you would believe wastewater is “not usually the best option” for treating dusty roads in PA. If you read the research study itself, you come to the conclusion the study draws no such conclusion.