Ohio Dem Wants Feds to Investigate Injection Wells
Here’s a new twist on the “fracking contaminates ground water supplies” argument that MDN has not seen before…
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Energy Services | Hydro-Recovery | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Tioga County (PA) | Wastewater
Frack Wastewater Treatment Plant in Blossburg, PA Expands
Hydro-Recovery operates a shale gas fracking wastewater treatment facility in Blossburg (Tioga County), PA. It’s just announced a $15 million expansion of the plant with plans to add an additional 20-25 employees and ramp up to 24/7 operations. Construction is set to start as soon as permits are received on a “crystalizer and six 500,000 gallon storage tanks.”
Read More “Frack Wastewater Treatment Plant in Blossburg, PA Expands”
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NRDC Releases Report Critical of PA Fracking Wastewater
Advocating for stricter government controls, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) earlier this week released a “comprehensive review” of how fracking wastewater is handled in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale with recommendations for how it can be handled better. The NRDC says that the current methods of wastewater disposal are not adequate to protect drinking water supplies, and present a risk to the health of both humans and animals. A copy of the report is embedded below.
From the NRDC press release:
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Columbiana County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Mahoning County | Ohio | Wastewater
Industrial Complex near Columbiana, OH Gets Shale Makeover
The former National Refractories complex just outside Columbiana, OH is getting a shale gas makeover. Owner Jerry Stoneburner says the 300,000 square foot facility that sits on 100 acres will become both a shale gas wastewater treatment center and a transfer point to load railroad cars with crude oil and condensate being produced in the Marcellus and Utica Shale.
Read More “Industrial Complex near Columbiana, OH Gets Shale Makeover”
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Anti-Drillers Target Conventional NatGas Drilling in NY
The anti-drillers in New York are not content to block horizontal drilling. They increasingly have turned their attention to conventional, vertical natural gas drilling as their target, trying to shut down or otherwise harass an industry that has been safely operating in the state for decades.The latest attempt is a sham “report” by the anti-drilling group Environmental Advocates of New York. This new “report” says wastewater disposal from conventional, vertical wells is too lax in the state. They want conventional drilling wastewater to be classified as a hazardous substance with cradle-to-grave tracking of all water used in any oil and gas drilling in the state—which is just another way of strangling an industry that has been an important part of the state’s economy for the past 100+ years.
From the AP:
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PennFuture Targets Entire Oil & Gas Industry in PA
Anti-drilling “environmental” group PennFuture’s newly appointed President and CEO George Jugovic, formerly the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) southwest regional director, is wasting no time in going after the oil and gas industry. Current DEP Secretary Michael Krancer got the drilling industry to stop using municipal sewage treatment plants to process Marcellus drilling wastewater without so much as an edict or lawsuit. Conventional (non-Marcellus) gas drillers have now come under the scrutiny by PennFuture and other anti-drilling groups. They want conventional drillers to stop processing their drilling wastewater via treatment plants that discharge into rivers and waterways.
Read More “PennFuture Targets Entire Oil & Gas Industry in PA”
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Accidents | Clearfield County | Energy Companies | EXCO Resources | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater
EXCO Resources Fined $160K by EPA for Injection Well Incident
EXCO Resources was fined $160,000 last week by the federal Environmental Protection Agency for an incident that occurred at an injection well last year in western Pennsylvania.
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ODNR Finds Youngstown Injection Well Caused Earthquakes
A preliminary report released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) on Friday concludes that a dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were “almost certainly” induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater (a full copy of the report is embedded below). The evidence is overwhelming: The earthquakes did not begin until three months after the injection well went online; the quakes were all clustered around the well bore; and a new fault has been discovered in the bedrock where the wastewater was being injected. Taken together, the ODNR is as sure as it can get that the injection well was causing the earthquakes.Therefore, the ODNR has issued new regulations for injection wells, what state officials are calling among the toughest rules in the nation. From the ODNR press release:
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Cayuga County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Regulation | Wastewater
Auburn, NY Rescinds Ban on Gas Drilling Wastewater
Wiser heads have prevailed in the upstate New York Finger Lakes community of Auburn—the Auburn city council has voted to once again allow the municipal sewage treatment plant to accept gas drilling wastewater.
As you may recall, MDN told you about protesters who descended on the tiny city of Auburn last year to protest not Marcellus wastewater being treated at the sewage plant, but local conventional gas drilling wastewater—something that had been going on for 15 years with no adverse effects (see this MDN story). In the rush to condemn fracking and prevent horizontal drilling in the state, ignorant protesters have fallen into the trap of protesting all gas drilling in the state—drilling that has gone on for decades.
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NY Republican Senator Introduces Fracking Wastewater Bill
On the issue of hydraulic fracturing and shale gas drilling, the New York Republican party keeps shooting itself in the head. The latest example is a ridiculous bill just introduced into the state legislature by Long Island Republican Senator Jack Martins, 7th Senate District:
Read More “NY Republican Senator Introduces Fracking Wastewater Bill”
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OH Bill Tightens Regulation of Wastewater Injection Wells
Ohio State Rep. Jay Goyal introduced legislation yesterday to tighten regulation of injection wells used for disposing Marcellus and Utica Shale wastewater. Key provisions of the bill include:
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Chesapeake Energy | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Ohio | Wastewater
Steubenville Selling 700K Gallons of Water/Day to Chesapeake
The city of Steubenville in Jefferson County, Ohio has struck a deal to sell Chesapeake Energy treated wastewater, untreated river water and potable water—700,000 gallons of it a day for five years.
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GreenHunter Buys 3 Marcellus/Utica Wastewater Injection Wells
GreenHunter Water has just purchased three currently operating wastewater injection wells in Ohio and Kentucky for $8.8 million that they will use to dispose of Marcellus and Utica Shale wastewater.
From the GreenHunter press release:
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New Frack Wastewater Recycling Plant Coming to Eastern OH
Officials in Mahoning County, Ohio are negotiating with an unnamed company to build a frack water recycling facility in the county. The new facility will treat wastewater, recycling it to be reused in fracking operations. As a bonus, the sewage treatment plant in Mahoning will sell treated water to the new plant, a new revenue stream for the county.
Read More “New Frack Wastewater Recycling Plant Coming to Eastern OH”
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Heckmann | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Wastewater
Start a Company or Get a Job in the Marcellus? Try Water
Looking for a way to participate in the Marcellus and Utica Shale economic boom? As an investor, or as a business owner or even as a job seeker, you might want to consider water. Yeah, water. Try these numbers on for size: In 2011, drillers paid somewhere between $1.3-$1.7 billion to dispose of fracking wastewater in the Marcellus Shale. In 10 years it’s estimated to be a $15-$22 billion market—just in the Marcellus Shale.
Read More “Start a Company or Get a Job in the Marcellus? Try Water”
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Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County | Wastewater
EPA Investigation Launched in Washington County, PA
Washington County is the most active county in southwestern Pennsylvania for Marcellus drilling, including most numbers of wells drilled, pipelines to transport the gas and compressor stations to power the pipelines. Word has just leaked that last September the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a “multi-media” probe into drilling in Washington County. A multi-media probe means they analyze air, water and land impacts of drilling. Apparently the EPA doesn’t believe the PA Department of Environmental Protection can do its own job and needs an assist.
Read More “EPA Investigation Launched in Washington County, PA”
The anti-drillers in New York are not content to block horizontal drilling. They increasingly have turned their attention to conventional, vertical natural gas drilling as their target, trying to shut down or otherwise harass an industry that has been safely operating in the state for decades.
A preliminary report released by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) on Friday concludes that a dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were “almost certainly” induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater (a full copy of the report is embedded below). The evidence is overwhelming: The earthquakes did not begin until three months after the injection well went online; the quakes were all clustered around the well bore; and a new fault has been discovered in the bedrock where the wastewater was being injected. Taken together, the ODNR is as sure as it can get that the injection well was causing the earthquakes.