Wastewater

Energy Companies | Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania General Energy | Regulation | Wastewater

PA DEP Nixes Previously Permitted Wastewater Injection Well
March 19, 2015March 19, 2015

The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection under Acting Sec. John Quigley (formerly from the anti-drilling organization PennFuture) has reversed a decision made by the DEP just last October to permit a rare/new wastewater injection well in Indiana County. Most Pennsylvania wastewater that gets injected travels out of state–to either Ohio or West Virginia–for disposal in their injection wells. It would be nice if PA handled a little more of its own wastewater. The DEP under previous Gov. Tom Corbett fully vetted a well Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) planned to use as an injection well in Grant Township. The DEP issued a permit for the well. Now they’ve welshed on their decision and rescinded the permit they issued last October. The only thing that seems to have changed in the past five months is leadership at the top of the DEP. Ergo, Quigley didn’t want this injection well…
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Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Change in PA DEP Tone Toward Marcellus Industry Noticeable
March 19, 2015March 19, 2015

The newly reconstituted Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection has taken on a decidedly more antagonist tone with the Marcellus drilling industry, unfortunately. You can detect this new tone, no doubt fostered by its new Acting Secretary, John Quigley (formerly from the anti-drilling PennFuture), in its press releases. Like the one below. The story is that there is a coal refuse site in Indiana County, PA used to process and store waste from coal mining. Close to that site is a wastewater impoundment where leachate (nasty water coming from the coal refuse site) was collected and stored, creating a somewhat toxic sludge under the impoundment. In addition, some shale drilling wastewater was stored in that same impoundment. It appears that most of the environment hazards come from the coal waste leachate, but notice how shale brine is intertwined, mixed in, subsumed and painted with the same toxic brush as the coal waste leachate–as if brine has the same (or worse) toxicity (which it doesn’t)…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County | Wastewater

Range Re-Opens 2 of 3 Water Impoundments in Washington County, PA
March 11, 2015March 11, 2015

Last September Range Resources was fined $4.15 million for a series of violations at eight water impoundments they operate in southwestern PA (see PA DEP Fines Range Resources $4.15M for Wastewater Impoundments). As part of the deal worked out with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) under then-Sec. Chris Abruzzo, Range agreed to shut down five of the eight impoundments. Actually, all eight of the impoundments ceased operation either during or prior to last September. Two of the remaining three impoundments–the “Carter” and “Carol Baker” impoundments–are now back up and running. The Carter impoundment is handling only fresh water these days, while the Carol Baker impoundment has been upgraded and once again handles wastewater. The remaining “Jon Day” impoundment is being upgraded to begin handling wastewater again, when the weather breaks…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

New Draft Drilling Regulations in PA: Wastewater Impoundments Out
March 10, 2015March 10, 2015

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been working on revisions to oil and gas regulations, something called Chapter 78, since 2011. In 2012 the new Act 13 drilling law required the DEP to update Chapter 78 to reflect the new reality of shale drilling. Over the past three years, the DEP held nine public hearings and received some 24,000 public comments on the proposed changes (see PA DEP Extends Roadshow for Public Comment on New Drilling Rules). The new rules were supposed to be over and done with long before now, but got derailed by last year’s election cycle. New governor, new secretary of the DEP, and guess what? The proposed rules have changed yet again. There’s a new due date too: the final rules won’t be ready until early 2016. Yesterday the DEP released yet another revision to the rules (we’ve lost track how many times the rules have been revised and changed). Drillers under Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf and his PennFutureDEP Sec. John Quigley want to increase the red tape drillers must navigate. Among the changes in this latest draft (full copy below) are…
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Ashtabula County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | Regulation | Utica Shale | Velocys | Wastewater

OH EPA Issues Draft Lake Erie Discharge Permit for Ashtabula GTL Plant
March 9, 2015March 9, 2015

The Ashtabula (OH) gas-to-liquids, or GTL, plant is ever-so-gradually making progress. In Sept. 2013 MDN first told you about this innovative plant coming to Ashtabula County (see Utica Shale Gas-to-Liquids Plant Planned for Ashtabula, OH). The plant will convert Marcellus and Utica Shale gas into diesel fuel, lubricants, solvents and waxes. The technology used for the plant is provided by a UK company called Velocys. In June 2014, Velocys bought out the Astabula operation and took up the reigns of the project (see UK-based Velocys Buys Ashtabula, OH GTL Plant). We didn’t hear anything about it until January of this year when Ashtabula Energy, a division of Velocys, has filed for a permit with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) that would allow the plant to discharge wastewater into Lake Erie (see New Life for Ashtabula Gas-to-Liquids Plant, Files for Permit). The new news is that the OEPA has issued a draft discharge permit for the plant and has scheduled a public hearing on it…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Anti Groups Sue ODNR to Stop All Frack Waste Disposal in State
March 5, 2015March 5, 2015

With seeming endless supplies of money to file frivolous lawsuits, the virulently anti-drilling and misnamed Food & Water Watch (FWW) along with the so-called FreshWater Accountability Project (FWAP) have, yes, filed yet another lawsuit. Surprise! This time to the two organizations are suing the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) in a case that, if successful, would prevent the ODNR from issuing permits to allow the safe disposal of frack wastewater and drill cuttings. That is, drillers in Ohio (and Pennsylvania, which sends a lot of waste to Ohio for disposal), would have no place to safely dispose fracking wastes, which would (you guessed it) shut down drilling in the Utica and Marcellus…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

CSSD Expands Certification Standard to Include Wastewater Disposal
March 2, 2015March 2, 2015

The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) has popped back into the news. The CSSD is an effort by both the drilling industry and environmental groups to craft a set of standards that both sides can support resulting in (for those companies who follow the standards)–a sort of Underwriters Laboratory “seal of approval” certification. You can boil it down to an effort to, “Can’t we all just get along?” As MDN has chronicled over the past two years since it was launched in March 2013, it’s been a rocky start for the CSSD (see MDN’s string of stories on the CSSD here). MDN has been critical of the organization from the beginning, although lately we’ve begun to warm to the organization and its mission. We’ve spoken in person with both the former executive director of the CSSD, Andrew Place (from EQT) and the current executive director, Susan LeGros. They both make a compelling case for the organization. LeGros and the CSSD announced last week they have, for the first time, expanded one of their 15 standards to include guidelines for what happens to frack wastewater after it has left the drilling site…
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Earthquakes | Industrywide Issues | Research | Wastewater

USGS Scientists: Earthquakes from Injection Wells Can be Mitigated
February 25, 2015February 25, 2015

Last week a scientific research paper was published in the magazine Science on the topic of earthquakes related to injection wells. The paper is the result of a series of workshops by the U.S. Geological Survey. Although we don’t have a copy of the full paper, we do have a summary. A summary of the summary is this: fracking shale results in a lot of fluid that gets disposed of via Class II injection wells. Some of those wells are near faults and result in tremors–most of the time unfelt. There is, in the opinion of the USGS scientists, a direct connection between the increase in fluid injection from shale drilling and the rise (and clusters) of low-level earthquakes. The good news? There are strategies for “mitigating the effects of human-induced earthquakes caused by wastewater injection” which are discussed in the paper…
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About MDN | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | MDN Resources | Wastewater

ShaleNavigator Adds Updated Frack Waste Facilities Layer to Maps
February 25, 2015February 25, 2015

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 updated layer to the service: the location of frack waste facilities used by Marcellus and Utica Shale drillers. The most recent volume of the 2014 Databook, Volume 3, contains that very information: a complete list (with addresses and phone numbers) for frack waste facilities. Ed has used the location data for those waste facilities compiled for the Databook and has added the updated 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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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio County | Regulation | Wastewater | West Virginia

GreenHunter Keeps Pressure on USCG to Barge Brine on Ohio River
February 23, 2015February 23, 2015

GreenHunter Resources is keeping up the pressure on the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)–essentially daring them to stop GreenHunter from proceeding with barging brine–or produced water–from shale wells down the Ohio River (see GreenHunter to Coast Guard, We’re Barging While You Fiddle Around). In new comments last week, GreenHunter’s Chief Operating Officer Kirk Trosclair reaffirmed his company is proceeding with its plan to begin barging from a facility in Wheeling, WV. Meanwhile, so-called “environmental” groups are organizing and joining forces with the Wheeling Water Warriors (Warriors, Warriors, Warriors…that’s an echo you hear for our superheros) to oppose GreenHunter from barging a substance that isn’t anywhere near as toxic as the chemicals that currently float down the river on barges every single day. Here’s what Trosclair said last week…
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Columbiana County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Trucking | Wastewater

OH Frack Truck Facility Given Green Light, Mayor Tries to Stop It
February 19, 2015February 19, 2015

MDN first told you about a frack truck washing facility in Columbiana, OH last September (see Frack Truck Washing Facility Shut Down Until ODNR Permit Issued). The facility, flying under the name of Clear Creek, made a misstep by not first obtaining a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources before it began operations. They immediately stopped operations and applied for the permit–it was a brand new requirement that Clear Creek was not aware of. A temporary permit to operate was granted by ODNR last week. The mayor of Columbiana, Ryan Blakeman, opposes the facility’s right to operate and he’s trying to find any grounds he can to appeal the ODNR permit and stop Clear Creek…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA Dem Congressman “Steps Up” Frack Waste Witch Hunt
February 17, 2015February 17, 2015

Pennsylvania Congressman Matt Cartwright, an anti-drilling Democrat from northeast PA, began a bash-shale-drilling meme late last year (see PA Dem Congressman Demands Info from DEP on Frack Waste and PA Dem Congressman Cartwright Continues to Bash DEP). Cartwright wants to violate the U.S. Constitution and remove individual states rights to regulate oil and gas drilling and instead concentrate that power in Washington, D.C. where people like the arrogant Cartwright can control it via fiat. Cartwright is at it again. He’s “stepped up” his so-called investigation into shale waste disposal. The AP recently visited with Cartwright to take dictation…
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Earthquakes | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Research | Statewide OH | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

EPA Sees Connection Between Some Injection Wells & Earthquakes
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

On February 5th the Underground Injection Control National Technical Workgroup, part of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, released their final report on a potential link between wastewater injection wells (called Class II wells) and earthquakes. To which we say, we knew a probable connection existed three plus years ago. That’s the typical lag you get with when the federal government “investigates” something. The report is titled “Minimizing and Managing Potential Impacts of Injection-Induced Seismicity from Class II Disposal Wells: Practical Approaches” (the full 415-page copy is embedded below). The report says, in essence, while they can’t prove there’s connection between injection wells in some locations and earthquakes, the relationship is “undeniable.” MDN’s comment: What everyone acknowledges is that when you inject fluid into the earth over an active fault line, that fluid acts like grease and eventually the rock layers can, in RARE circumstances, slip and slide, causing a LOW LEVEL earthquake–typically so light no one feels it at the surface. The EPA study was based on cases from four states, two of them (OH & WV) in the Marcellus/Utica region…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

GreenHunter to Coast Guard, We’re Barging While You Fiddle Around
February 9, 2015February 9, 2015

As MDN chronicled on Friday, there is a dispute between GreenHunter Resources and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) over what, exactly, constitutes “oil field waste” (see GreenHunter/Coast Guard War of Words — MDN Explains It). If we might toot our own horn for a moment, we were the first to understand and share that understanding of the key issue, which is whether or not produced water (“brine”) from horizontal wells is essentially the same chemically as produced water from vertical-only wells. That is what GreenHunter and the USCG disagree about. GreenHunter says it is the same thing, and the USCG isn’t so sure. On Saturday, our interpretation of that key issue was confirmed by USCG statements–they remain concerned that low levels of radiation, which may or may not be present in produced water from horizontal wells, DOES make shale well produced water potentially different from regular old produced water from vertical wells…
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Coshocton County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Coshocton County, OH #1 in Frack Wastewater Injection Volume
February 9, 2015February 9, 2015

The amount of wastewater, both flowback and brine going down Ohio’s injection wells increased by a full third (35% actually) in 2014, according to research by Bob Downing at the Akron Beacon Journal. Wastewater in-state (produced in Ohio) jumped 32% while wastewater from out of state (Pennsylvania and West Virginia) jumped 37% in 2014. Here’s some statistics…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

GreenHunter/Coast Guard War of Words — MDN Explains It
February 6, 2015February 6, 2015

MDN now believes we have the full story, and a proper understanding, for the current war of words between GreenHunter and the U.S. Coast Guard over the issue of barging produced water, sometimes referred to as brine, on the Ohio River and other inland waterways. On Wednesday MDN brought the news that GreenHunter claimed the Coast Guard has given the all clear to begin barge shipments of brine (see US Coast Guard Approves Brine Shipping via Barge on Ohio River). Yesterday we reported a response from the Coast Guard saying no, they haven’t decided and haven’t given clearance (see Breaking: Coast Guard Says They Did NOT Grant Barge Permission to GreenHunter). Yesterday GreenHunter, a publicly traded company, filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) challenging the Coast Guard’s statement. It all comes down to semantics. MDN has spoken with a barge operator, has read the GreenHunter SEC statement (below), and we now think we know what is happening…
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