Wastewater

Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Stanford Study Tells Us What We Knew 3 Years Ago About Wastewater
September 24, 2014September 24, 2014

A new research study from Stanford University titled “Enhanced Formation of Disinfection By-Products in Shale Gas Wastewater-Impacted Drinking Water Supplies” proves what we already knew more than three years ago: When you send frack wastewater untreated, or lightly treated, to a municipal sewage treatment plant–the plant can’t get the residual water clean enough to not cause problems down river. Back in 2011, then-PA DEP Sec. Michael Krancer ended the practice of municipal treatment plants without special equipment from processing frack wastewater (see PA DEP, Marcellus Shale Coalition Admit Drilling Wastewater Likely Contaminating Drinking Water). Not long after it was shown that bromide levels–one of the hazards of treating frack wastewater with chlorine–had fallen after the ban (see Marcellus Wastewater Ban Leads to Lower Bromide in PA Rivers). Here we are three years later and a new study says the same thing…
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Columbiana County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trucking | Wastewater

Frack Truck Washing Facility Shut Down Until ODNR Permit Issued
September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

Clear Creek is a division of Dynamic Structures Inc., a company based in New Waterford (Columbiana County), OH that hauls drilling mud, fresh water and yes, frack wastewater for oil and gas companies throughout Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Clear Creek had constructed a truck washing facility in the city of Columbiana–population 6,384–to clean the trucks that haul the mud and wastewater. Columbiana’s planning commission has shut down the facility until they obtain a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR). Once that happens, it appears they can reopen. The problem is, the Mayor of Columbiana lives nearby to where the facility is located and he opposes it. Oops…
Read More “Frack Truck Washing Facility Shut Down Until ODNR Permit Issued”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Meigs County | Ohio | Wastewater

GreenHunter Gets Green Light for 4 New OH Injection Wells
September 18, 2014September 18, 2014

This one won’t please the anti-drilling nutters in Ohio. GreenHunter Resources (division of Magnum Hunter) announced on Tuesday they have received permits and have concluded successful testing to bring four new Utica/Marcellus wastewater injection wells online in Meigs County, OH. With the addition of these four new injection wells, GreenHunter will be operating a total of 13 such wells. Each of the new wells can handle 3,000-5,000 barrels of brine/wastewater per day. According to GreenHunter, most of that new capacity coming online is already spoken for. They already have major drillers locked up as customers for the new capacity because the need is so great. The company also says the wells are ready to be begin accepting wastewater that’s barged down the Ohio River (hint hint U.S. Coast Guard)…
Read More “GreenHunter Gets Green Light for 4 New OH Injection Wells”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Warren County | Wastewater

CWA v Waste Treatment Corp Wastewater Discharge Lawsuit Settled
September 12, 2014September 12, 2014

In October of last year MDN told you the radical national anti-drilling organization Clean Water Action (CWA) had sued a small Pennsylvania company by the name of Waste Treatment Corporation (WTC) in Warren, PA in federal court claiming the company continued to accept, treat and discharge Marcellus drilling wastewater into the Allegheny River (see CWA Sues/Accuses Waste Treatment Corp of Continued Shale Pollution). WTC was supposed to have stopped that practice two years earlier, in 2011, after then-Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), Michael Krancer, got all such operations to cease and desist. Responses to the CWA lawsuit from both the WTC and the DEP raised more questions than they answered for us (see Waste Treatment, PA DEP Respond to CWA Lawsuit). Since last year, the lawsuit has been quiet–at least publicly. Yesterday CWA announced they’ve reached a settlement of the case with WTC agreeing to immediately stop accepting/discharging Marcellus wastewater (even though they say they don’t), install expensive new equipment over the next 8 months, and then restart accepting Marcellus wastewater processing again…
Read More “CWA v Waste Treatment Corp Wastewater Discharge Lawsuit Settled”
American Water Management | Earthquakes | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trumbull County | Wastewater

ODNR Temporarily Shuts Down Injection Wells After Low-Level Quake
September 8, 2014September 8, 2014

On Sunday, August 31 at 5:45 pm, there was an earthquake in the vicinity of Weathersfield (Trumbull County), OH. However, no one felt it. The only way anyone knew there was a quake was because of monitoring by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) is investigating whether or not two wastewater injection wells, operated by American Water Management Services (AWMS), was the cause of that low-level quake that no one felt. According to the ODNR, from an “abundance of caution” they asked AWMS to shut down operations at those two wells while they investigate, which has now been done…
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Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Venango County | Wastewater

PA Driller Slapped with $250K Fine for Dumping Brine, Erosion
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

UPDATE: An alert MDN reader from Venango County with industry knowledge contacted MDN to say he very much doubts Henderson has done any Marcellus Shale drilling. Henderson’s history is as a shallow/conventional driller and not a shale driller. Thanks for that clarification!

William Henderson, the president and operator of three companies–Titusville Oil & Gas Associates Inc., Eagle Line Corporation, and Olympia Oil Services Inc.–has been fined $250,000 by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for violations of the Clean Stream Law, Solid Waste Management Act, and Oil and Gas Act. The DEP says Henderson and his companies have caused environmental damage from illegal discharges of production fluids (brine), for causing erosion, and more. The violations occurred from 2010 to 2014. It’s not clear to MDN that any of the violations were from Marcellus Shale drilling activities, but it seems likely. Here’s what the DEP said, along with information not provided by the DEP that MDN has dug up on Henderson from 2011…
Read More “PA Driller Slapped with $250K Fine for Dumping Brine, Erosion”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wastewater | Westmoreland County | WPX Energy

DEP Says WPX Needs to Replace 3rd Water Supply in SW PA
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

In July, MDN told you the water wells for two of three families living near a WPX recycled frack wastewater impoundment (i.e. “pond”), near Ligonier (Westmoreland County), PA, were determined to have been contaminated by that impoundment. That is, the Kalp impoundment leaked into the ground, according to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), and that has caused a long-term problem with those wells (see WPX Wastewater Impoundment Source of Water Contamination in W PA? and our follow-up story Important Update on WPX Energy Leaking Impoundment in SWPA). The DEP has made a final determination that the third family’s well, the elderly Ken and Mildred Geary, was also affected and that WPX will need to find a permanent water replacement solution for them too…
Read More “DEP Says WPX Needs to Replace 3rd Water Supply in SW PA”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Wastewater | West Virginia

Mystery Solved: GreenHunter Pipelines to Terminate Near…
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Now that U.S. Coast Guard’s comment period for barging frack wastewater is officially closed and a positive decision to move forward is likely, we expect to see more movement from GreenHunter Water on building out their barge facility near Wheeling, WV. As part of GreenHunter’s master plan, the company announced at the end of June that they will build three new (short) pipelines, one each dedicated to brine/wastewater, fresh water, and condensate (see 3 New (Short) Pipelines from GreenHunter in Tri-state Area). The three pipelines will all terminate in the same location–but until now, GreenHunter has been cagey about where (see GreenHunter’s Unidentified Barge Facility Pipeline Destination). We said at the time the betting money is on GreenHunter’s facility in Wheeling. Were we right?…
Read More “Mystery Solved: GreenHunter Pipelines to Terminate Near…”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

AAF Fails to Get Many to Oppose Barged Frack Wastewater
August 27, 2014August 27, 2014

Americans Against Fracking (AAF), a loose confederation of virulent anti-drilling groups who oppose fossil fuels and their use in society, has issued a press release to commemorate/mourn the closing of the comment period on whether or not the U.S. Coast Guard and a myriad of other federal agencies should allow barging of frack wastewater on the Ohio River. Even though AAF has multiple groups backing it–including the odious and misnamed Food & Water Watch–they were only able to get 3,400 people to sign form letters opposing federal approval for barging of frack wastewater. And so the propaganda machine at AAF has tried to spin that into a positive. What other choice do they have?…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County | Wastewater

Range Resources to Begin Closing Yeager Impoundment on Monday
August 15, 2014August 15, 2014

As we promised two weeks ago, we have more news and developments on Range Resources’ Yeager Wastewater Impoundment in Amwell Township (Washington County), PA. Range will begin the process of decommissioning the impoundment (i.e. pond) starting Monday, August 18th. As they do so, a lawyer for the three families suing Range with charges of well water contamination will be at the site to take their own so-called “independent” soil samples, right alongside Range. What Range (and the lawyer) will be looking for is any evidence that the two rubber liners have, in the past, leaked wastewater and therefore salts or chlorides, into the ground. Below we have a brief backgrounder, a copy of the Range 98-page plan to close the Yeager impoundment, and the recommended tweaks to that plan by the state DEP…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County | Wastewater

PA Marcellus Sludge with Low Radiation Heading to Michigan
August 13, 2014August 13, 2014

In May MDN told you about a tank at a Range Resources’ Carter wastewater impoundment in Mt. Pleasant Township (Washington County), PA that was found to have low levels of radiation. Although the level of radiation in the tank is barley above “background levels,” it’s high enough that it must be properly disposed of (see Low Levels of Radiation Found in Range PA Wastewater Impoundment). Apparently the tank, used to separate wastewater from sludge, is a really big tank. So big (heavy) it can’t be easily or safely moved along highways. So Range transferred the material in the big tank into two smaller tanks. Those tanks will soon be on their way for permanent disposal in…Michigan?
Read More “PA Marcellus Sludge with Low Radiation Heading to Michigan”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County | Wastewater

More Problems for Range Resources with SWPA Impoundments
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

Range Resources has had ongoing problems with the neighbors and townships where they’ve built and maintained several frack wastewater impoundments (large ponds) in Washington County, PA for the past several years. MDN has chronicled the push back, threats, lawsuits and shenanigans (see our list of Range impoundment stories here). The saga continues. Late last week residents living near the Cecil 23 impoundment–formerly known as the Worstell impoundment, located in Cecil Township–were informed by the town that the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) would be testing the ground (and water supplies?) following an alert from Range that the impoundment may have leaked in the past. Then, on Tuesday of this week, Range received a Notice of Violation from the DEP for leaks found at the Yeager impoundment in Amwell Township…
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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Wastewater

Final Chapter for Youngstown Illegal Wastewater Dumper: Prison & Fine
August 7, 2014August 7, 2014

The long, sad and maddening saga of Ben Lupo is now just about complete. Lupo, previous owner of D&L Energy and its associated company Hardrock Excavating, directed employees to dump frack wastwater hauled by Hardrock into a drain that emptied into a stream that emptied into the Mahoning River near Youngstown, OH (see Youngstown Business Dumped >200K Gal of Untreated Wastewater). It was later discovered that from September 2012 to end of January 2013, Lupo was responsible for dumping at least 30 loads of frack wastewater literally down the drain and into the river. It was a breathtaking environmental crime, of that there is no doubt. After a long investigation and criminal charges, Lupo finally plead guilty and earlier this week he was sentenced–to 23 months in prison and a $25,000 fine (although it cost over $3 million to clean it all up)…
Read More “Final Chapter for Youngstown Illegal Wastewater Dumper: Prison & Fine”
Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Sand/Proppant | Trucking | Wastewater

New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers
August 4, 2014August 4, 2014

Three weeks ago MDN highlighted news from NGI’s Shale Daily that Magnum Hunter Resources had purchased the mineral rights for two former Ormet properties in Ohio and West Virginia (see Magnum Hunter Buys Ormet Property in OH/WV, More Wells Coming?). Ormet, you may recall, had a big aluminum plant in Hannibal (Monroe County), OH that sits on the Ohio River (complete with a big barge facility) that was bankrupted because they couldn’t get Ohio to lower the electricity bills long enough for them to convert their own coal-burning electric generation plant into using natural gas mined from under the property (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). It was a big fail on the part of Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich’s administration and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). Magnum now owns the mineral rights, and Niagara Worldwide LLC now owns the real estate and plant itself in OH. Niagara issued a press release today advertising that they’re looking to re-open the Hannibal site for business. The announcement has a big tie-in with the shale drilling industry…
Read More “New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Research | Wastewater

Partisan GAO Report Says EPA Falling Down with Injection Wells
July 29, 2014July 29, 2014

The partisan and biased so-called Government Accountability Office (GAO), populated with liberal activists, issued a 103-page report yesterday telling the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to get off it’s rear and get more aggressive about regulating shale wastewater injection wells. The GAO was asked by Congressional Democrats to “review” EPA’s stewardship and oversight of injection wells related to shale drilling and this “report” is the result…
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Industrywide Issues | Keystone Pure Water Tech | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain | Wastewater

Exclusive: Breakthrough Tech Cleans Frack Wastewater <30 Minutes
July 28, 2014July 28, 2014

What if you were convinced an invention IS the greatest thing since sliced bread–at least as it applies to the world of shale drilling? And what if that invention could clean thousands of gallons of frack wastewater right on site and turn it into DRINKABLE water–in less than 30 minutes? And what if this process uses no chemicals, and even eliminates radioactivity, producing inert minerals (like iron) that can be sold for profit? Oh, and what if your cost, as the driller, was only $3 per barrel to work this magic? Would you believe such a tall tale? You would if you were me…
Read More “Exclusive: Breakthrough Tech Cleans Frack Wastewater <30 Minutes”