Wastewater

Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Warren County | Wastewater

Local Residents Protest 2 Wastewater Injection Wells in NW PA
September 7, 2012September 7, 2012

A battle is heating up over proposed deep injection wells for Marcellus and Utica Shale wastewater in Pennsylvania, specifically in Warren County (northwestern PA). A small conventional natural gas driller, Lyon Energy, owns about 80 natural gas wells in Warren County, some of which are now past their useful life. These are not Marcellus or Utica wells but wells drilled (and fracked) vertically, conventionally. Lyon, through the corporate name of Bear Properties, applied for a permit with the federal Environmental Protection Agency to turn two of its wells into deep injection wells for wastewater.

Read More “Local Residents Protest 2 Wastewater Injection Wells in NW PA”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ritchie County | Wastewater | West Virginia

New Shale Wastewater Injection Well Opens in WV
September 5, 2012September 5, 2012

A new deep injection well for oil and gas drilling wastewater has just opened for business in West Virginia. GreenHunter Energy today announced the beginning of official operations for their new 6,100 foot deep injection well in Ritchie County, WV. According to GreenHunter CEO Jonathan Hoopes, they’re already near full capacity with incoming Marcellus and Utica Shale wastewater.

From the press announcement:

Read More “New Shale Wastewater Injection Well Opens in WV”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

Is Marcellus/Utica Shale Wastewater Dangerously Radioactive?
September 4, 2012September 4, 2012

The Columbus Dispatch attempts to gin up anti-fracking sentiment by using a year-old study by the U.S. Geological Survey. The Dispatch’s argument, in a nutshell: A lot of Marcellus Shale wastewater coming from Pennsylvania to Ohio for disposal via deep injection wells is “radioactive” (i.e. dangerous if it should leak onto the ground). The Utica Shale in Ohio is like the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, ergo, fracking shale in the Utica will produce radioactive waste. Conclusion: Don’t frack.

From the article:

Read More “Is Marcellus/Utica Shale Wastewater Dangerously Radioactive?”
Allegheny County | Crime | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

Pittsburgh Suburb Suspects Illegal Shale Wastewater Dumping
August 28, 2012August 28, 2012

Authorities in Plum Borough, near Pittsburgh, PA, believe there has been illegal dumping of Marcellus brine (wastewater)—two times—into its municipal sewer treatment system. The following notice offering a $1,000 reward was published today:

Read More “Pittsburgh Suburb Suspects Illegal Shale Wastewater Dumping”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Penn State Paper on Water Usage in the Marcellus
August 9, 2012August 9, 2012

One of the concerns raised by anti-drillers, in an attempt to scare people, is that shale gas fracking will a) use up too much of our precious fresh water supplies, and b) wastewater from drilling will pollute fresh water supplies. The problem with those allegations is lack of evidence. If water supplies are in danger, then why have we not seen such shortages or contamination after 40,000 or so horizontal natural gas wells have been drilled since the early 2000s?

Every now and again a university will publish the facts on drilling, including it’s impacts on water. In May, Penn State University’s Extension program published such a paper, titled “Water’s Journey Through the Shale Gas Drilling and Production Processes in the Mid-Atlantic Region” (embedded below). It takes a look at how much and where water is used in the drilling process, and also deals with how wastewater is handled.

Read More “Penn State Paper on Water Usage in the Marcellus”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research | Wastewater

New Study on Water Pollution Risk from Marcellus Drilling
August 7, 2012August 7, 2012

A new paper is about to be published in a scientific journal that will no doubt get misrepresented and widely reported in the mainstream press about assessing the risks of Marcellus Shale drilling. The paper is titled “Water Pollution Risk Associated with Natural Gas Extraction from the Marcellus Shale,” written by a graduate student and his professor at SUNY Stony Brook. The published paper will appear in the August issue of the journal Risk Analysis, a publication of the Society for Risk Analysis (a preview copy of the full article is embedded below).

The paper looks at the theoretical probabilities of fracking fluids finding their way into the natural environment and polluting (contaminating) fresh water supplies. MDN will discuss what this paper does, and does not, say.

Read More “New Study on Water Pollution Risk from Marcellus Drilling”
Earthquakes | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

Bloomberg Targets Fracking for Recycling Water, Earthquakes
July 23, 2012July 23, 2012

Another masterful hit job against fracking by Bloomberg, this one appearing in Bloomberg Businessweek. The latest propaganda piece masquerading as an article, titled “Fracking Foes Build Momentum for Recycling,” goes after fracking based on the amount of water used, especially in light of the “the worst U.S. drought in a half century.”

The aim of the article is to plant the seed that fracking uses too much water, although the article’s authors admit (slipping in this fact along the way) that water use for hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania is less than one-tenth of one percent (0.01) of all water used every day in that state. In other words, the amount of water used by fracking in PA is a rounding error. Makes no difference—the authors plow on trying to sully the reputation of fracking.

Read More “Bloomberg Targets Fracking for Recycling Water, Earthquakes”
Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | OriginOil | Wastewater

OriginOil Uses Algae to Clean Frack Wastewater
July 19, 2012July 19, 2012

OriginOil, Inc., based in Los Angeles, is a biomass company that produces and markets a patent-pending commercial system using algae to produce crude oil. Think of it as a renewable fossil fuel! Their system is also used to clean water, using algae as a pollution absorber.

A new application for OriginOil is using their algae system to process flow back water—wastewater from hydraulic fracturing of shale oil and gas wells. OriginOil announced today they have created a new oil and gas division and appointed the former President of Exxon Arabian Gulf as an advisor to the business.

Read More “OriginOil Uses Algae to Clean Frack Wastewater”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Washington County (OH) | Wastewater

GreenHunter’s New Water Facility on Ohio River Goes Live
July 17, 2012July 17, 2012

GreenHunter Water’s new water and wastewater handing facility on the Ohio River in Washington County, Ohio has just gone operational. It is a bulk water storage facility, handling both fresh water used for fracking, and flowback or the salty wastewater that comes out of the ground after fracking.

From the GreenHunter press release:

Read More “GreenHunter’s New Water Facility on Ohio River Goes Live”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Patriot Water Fires Back at OEPA & ODNR, Alleges Govt Abuse
July 16, 2012July 16, 2012

Patriot Water in Warren, Ohio lost its permit to dispose of treated shale gas drilling wastewater via the Warren municipal wastewater treatment plant earlier this year. A few weeks ago they won a ruling against Ohio’s EPA (OEPA) and thought that would allow them to restart shipments of treated wastewater, but the OEPA said “not so fast” and has steadfastly refused to reissue a permit to allow it (see this MDN story for background).

Last Friday the president of Patriot Water, Andrew Blocksom, issued a strongly-worded statement saying the OEPA and Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) treatment of Patriot is tantamount to government abuse, and it needs to stop.

We get the full text of Blocksom’s statement from the Youngstown Business Journal:

Read More “Patriot Water Fires Back at OEPA & ODNR, Alleges Govt Abuse”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Ohio DNR Visits Patriot Water Facility in Warren, OH
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

Patriot Water in Warren, Ohio is fighting a battle on both the legal and publicity fronts. Yesterday they scored some points in the publicity column by (finally) getting a representative from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to tour their facility.

Brief background: Patriot’s facility processes wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, removing the nasty stuff so the water is clean and able to be disposed of through the local Warren municipal wastewater processing plant. But the Ohio Attorney General, Mike DeWine, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rescinded Warren’s permit to accept the wastewater from Patriot, saying Patriot’s technology is not up to scratch (see this MDN story for more background on Patriot’s legal squabble with the OEPA).

Read More “Ohio DNR Visits Patriot Water Facility in Warren, OH”
Accidents | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Concerns about Small Wastewater Spill on OH Roadway
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

There was a small spill of brine (Utica Shale wastewater) from a tanker truck in Trumbull County, Ohio last weekend. An estimated 100-150 gallons leaked from the back of the truck along a roadway for about 5 miles. The county engineer is concerned about it—the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency says there’s nothing to worry about.

Read More “Concerns about Small Wastewater Spill on OH Roadway”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Gov. Kasich Signs Order Tightening Rules on Injection Wells
July 11, 2012December 19, 2012

Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed an “emergency” executive order (EO) yesterday granting the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) authority to implement a list of new rules for proposed deep injection wells, used to dispose of drilling wastewater from Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling (a copy of the signed EO is embedded below).

The EO will expire in 90 days—enough time for the Ohio legislature to make the new rules permanent.

Read More “Gov. Kasich Signs Order Tightening Rules on Injection Wells”
Clearfield County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

Opposed to Proposed Injection Well in Clearfield County, PA
July 11, 2012December 19, 2012

Windfall Oil & Gas Company wants to build an injection well to dispose of Marcellus Shale wastewater in Brady Township (Clearfield County), PA. They’ve submitted an application to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees permitting and regulation of injection wells nationwide. The PA Department of Environmental Protection would also need to approve such a well.

Currently there are only eight injection wells in the entire state, two of them in Clearfield County. There is a movement by local politicians and residents to oppose the new injection well, and depending on the news account you read, there will be either an open or a mostly closed-door meeting on July 23 with the EPA present to discuss the proposed well.

Read More “Opposed to Proposed Injection Well in Clearfield County, PA”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Ohio EPA Says Patriot Still Can’t Dispose of Water in Warren
July 9, 2012December 19, 2012

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached out to MDN to let us know that there is an ongoing issue with Patriot Water in the City of Warren, Ohio. In short, Patriot is still not allowed to send the fracking wastewater they treat to the Warren municipal sewage treatment plant for disposal.

Last week MDN highlighted that Patriot had apparently won their case against the EPA with the Environmental Review Appeals Commission (see this MDN story). However, the Ohio EPA says “not so fast.” They have a different interpretation of what the ERAC ruling says, and they maintain the permit they’ve issued to the City of Warren has not (and will not) change, meaning Patriot will still not be allowed to dispose of treated wastewater via Warren.

Here’s the statement from Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally on the ERAC ruling:

Read More “Ohio EPA Says Patriot Still Can’t Dispose of Water in Warren”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Patriot Water Treatment Wins Case Against Ohio EPA
July 5, 2012July 5, 2012

Earlier this year MDN reported on the story of the Patriot Water Treatment facility in Warren, Ohio. Patriot accepts and treats raw fracking fluid from Marcellus drilling operations, removing heavy metals, bromide and other contaminants. Last fall, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, a Republican who seems to be rather anti-drilling in his actions, declared that Patriot’s permits were illegal because they were not using the latest technology (see this MDN story).

The Ohio EPA took DeWine’s findings as a cue to go after Patriot to shut them down. They did so by not allowing the City of Warren to accept Patriot’s treated wastewater. With no place to send the treated wastewater, Patriot had to shut the plant down in April. Patriot appealed the EPA decision and on Tuesday, Patriot prevailed. The plant will reopen today.

Read More “Patriot Water Treatment Wins Case Against Ohio EPA”