Wastewater

Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

GreenHunter Energy to Establish New Fracking Wastewater Treatment Facility in WV, Including Injection Wells
August 3, 2011August 3, 2011

Texas-based GreenHunter Energy, Inc. announced they’ve purchased acreage in West Virginia where they will establish a facility to treat and dispose of fracking wastewater. Part of GreenHunter’s plan includes disposing wastewater using an existing injection well with plans for additional injection wells. The press release (in full below) does not mention the exact location for the new facility and injection wells.

Read More “GreenHunter Energy to Establish New Fracking Wastewater Treatment Facility in WV, Including Injection Wells”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

US Dept of Energy Awards Grants for Hydraulic Fracturing Research, Looking for Greener Alternatives
August 3, 2011August 3, 2011

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding a number of research projects to help find ways to extract more energy from unconventional oil and gas resources while reducing environmental risks. The DOE grants amount to $12.4 million.

The selections include $10.3 million for eight projects that will reduce the environmental risks of shale gas development while accelerating the application of new exploration and production technologies; and $2.1 million for three projects investigating innovative processes for extracting additional oil from mature domestic oil fields including Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).

The total value of the shale-related projects is more than $17.0 million over 3 years with approximately $6.7 million of cost-share provided by the recipients in addition to the $10.3 million in federal funds. The shale gas projects include:

Read More “US Dept of Energy Awards Grants for Hydraulic Fracturing Research, Looking for Greener Alternatives”
Algepower | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

Could Algae be the Answer to Marcellus Wastewater? Innovative New “Green” Fracking Solution Looking for a Partner
July 22, 2011July 22, 2011

From time to time businesses contact MDN to ask for exposure to their product or service. Most times MDN passes because it wouldn’t be of interest to landowners and industry participants. However, we recently received a request about an intriguing green solution for fracking wastewater.

What if you could use algae to feed on fracking wastewater and convert that wastewater into a harmless (and useful) biofuel? And what if you ramped up the growth rate of the algae by using hydroponics technology? And what if the whole operation, covering just one acre, was enclosed in an inflatable structure that protected the environment around it, and enabled 24/7/365 growth of the algae inside? And what if that one acre super-algae farm could handle 50,000 gallons of fracking wastewater per day? Well then, you’d have something called Algeponics®.

Read More “Could Algae be the Answer to Marcellus Wastewater? Innovative New “Green” Fracking Solution Looking for a Partner”
Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

PA Environmentalist Groups Try to Make a Federal Case Against McKeesport Sewage Treatment Plant over Marcellus Wastewater
July 20, 2011July 20, 2011

Two activist environmental organizations, Clean Water Action and Three Rivers Waterkeeper, are attempting to make a federal case against the McKeesport (Allegheny County) municipal sewage treatment plant that in the past has accepted hydraulic fracturing wastewater because the plant won’t categorically commit to never accepting fracking wastewater again. Here’s the very confusing setup from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Read More “PA Environmentalist Groups Try to Make a Federal Case Against McKeesport Sewage Treatment Plant over Marcellus Wastewater”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Warren County | Wastewater

Two New PA Injection Wells Will Accept Fracking Wastewater Starting this Fall
June 27, 2011June 27, 2011

Drillers in Pennsylvania who do not recycle 100 percent of the wastewater from hydraulic fracturing for reuse must dispose of that wastewater somewhere. The options are to haul the wastewater, which is mostly salt water but contains a small amount of chemicals, to certified treatment plants that are specially fitted to treat it and release it into waterways, or haul it to an underground injection well. Most of the injection wells PA drillers have been using are located in Ohio. However, two new injections wells are due to come online in Columbus Township (Warren County), PA this fall, giving drillers in PA a new option.

Read More “Two New PA Injection Wells Will Accept Fracking Wastewater Starting this Fall”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA Public Drinking Water Not Radioactive After All
June 21, 2011June 21, 2011

Further proof that the New York Times series of “PA water is radioactive because treated Marcellus drilling wastewater was released into waterways” scare articles was nothing more than hot air and fiction:

Read More “PA Public Drinking Water Not Radioactive After All”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Patriot Water Permit Renewal in Jeopardy in Northeastern Ohio
June 21, 2011June 21, 2011

Patriot Water operates a Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment plant in Warren, Ohio—in the northeastern part of the state, not far from the border of PA. Patriot pre-treats drilling wastewater and then sends it to the Warren municipal sewage treatment plant where it is further processed and released to the Mahoning River. Patriot has invested $3 million and has hired 45 people to operate the plant.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has told the Warren municipal sewage treatment plant their permit to accept Patriot’s treated wastewater will not be renewed when it expires in July 2012, even though there has not been a single “finding” or violation issued by the OEPA to Patriot.

Read More “Patriot Water Permit Renewal in Jeopardy in Northeastern Ohio”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA Marcellus Drilling Wastewater Going to Ohio
June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

Millions of barrels of fracking fluid—wastewater often referred to as “brine” because of the heavy salts in it—are being imported from Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale drilling operations into Ohio, and it has some Ohioans concerned. Fracking fluid/wastewater/brine is what comes back out of the bore hole after sending water, sand and some chemicals down the hole during drilling.

Many larger drillers now recycle 100 percent of the wastewater for reuse in other drilling. For those who do not recycle it, it must be disposed—either by treating it at special facilities where it is then safe for release back into streams and rivers, or by storing it in underground wells, known as injection wells.

Read More “PA Marcellus Drilling Wastewater Going to Ohio”
Cayuga County | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Wastewater

Marcellus Drilling Debate Now Affecting Conventional Gas Drilling in New York State
June 3, 2011June 3, 2011

The debate over horizontal hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale has now spilled over to affect conventional gas drilling in New York State. Protesters rallied outside Auburn City Hall (a small city in Upstate New York) yesterday afternoon to oppose the local municipal sewage treatment plant’s practice of accepting gas drilling wastewater for treatment and release into the Owasco River. None of the wastewater accepted comes from Marcellus Shale drilling—it all comes from conventional natural gas drilling in New York State.

Read More “Marcellus Drilling Debate Now Affecting Conventional Gas Drilling in New York State”
Atlas Energy | Chesapeake Energy | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Statewide PA | SWEPI | Talisman Energy | Wastewater

PA Drillers Comply with Federal EPA’s Request for Information on Wastewater Disposal
May 27, 2011May 27, 2011

When the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently told Marcellus Shale drillers in the state to stop hauling wastewater from fracking to municipal sewage treatment plants that are not equipped to fully treat the wastewater by May 19 (see MDN story here), they all committed to comply and indeed did comply. But the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) jumped in and demanded detailed plans from six drillers as to just how they planned on treating and disposing of the wastewater once the they stopped using the municipal plants.

The EPA’s deadline for the six drillers to file plans was Wednesday, May 25. Five of the six complied by the deadline:

Read More “PA Drillers Comply with Federal EPA’s Request for Information on Wastewater Disposal”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

City of Lancaster, PA Water Testing Finds No Radioactivity Nor Salty Bromides in the Susquehanna River
May 25, 2011May 25, 2011

A few months ago, the New York Times published a series of articles alleging that Pennsylvania’s waterways may contain radioactivity because Marcellus Shale drilling wastewater had been treated and discharged into streams and rivers in the state. The articles created a good deal of fear that drinking water supplies have been polluted in Pennsylvania.

Read More “City of Lancaster, PA Water Testing Finds No Radioactivity Nor Salty Bromides in the Susquehanna River”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Federal EPA Continues to Bully Pennsylvania Using the Safe Water Drinking Act
May 13, 2011May 13, 2011

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to assert itself into states’ business by claiming authority of the federal Safe Water Drinking Act. The latest example was yesterday. The EPA requested (ie demanded) details from six drillers who operate in Pennsylvania on where they will dispose of fracking fluid wastewater now that the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has told drillers that certain municipal sewage treatment plants not specially equipped will no longer be able to accept fracking wastewater. The EPA wants to know where that wastewater will now go.

But the PA DEP itself has not escaped the heavy hand of the federal EPA either. The EPA has “requested” (ie demanded) PA DEP provide a list of facilities that accept fracking wastewater. And the EPA has other “requests” for the DEP on how to do things better (see the EPA press release below).

Read More “Federal EPA Continues to Bully Pennsylvania Using the Safe Water Drinking Act”
Energy Services | Heckmann | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Wastewater Company Heckmann Corp. Makes Major Expansion in Shale Gas Regions, Including the Marcellus
May 12, 2011May 12, 2011

Heckmann Corporation, a water solutions company focused on water issues and, in particular, oil and natural gas exploration and production, has completed four acquisitions that substantially expand the Company’s water solutions for energy development business segment, including a major presence in the Marcellus Shale region. Within the past year, the California-based company has grown from 30 employees to over 750, and from $8.6 million in revenue for the first quarter of 2010 to $23.8 million for the first quarter of 2011.(1) Heckmann has a small but rapidly growing operational base in Pittsburgh for it’s Marcellus Shale operations.

Read More “Wastewater Company Heckmann Corp. Makes Major Expansion in Shale Gas Regions, Including the Marcellus”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Ohio’s First Marcellus Shale Wastewater Treatment Plant Now Open for Business
May 11, 2011May 11, 2011

The first Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment plant in Ohio (Trumbull County) is now open for business, with more on the way:

Read More “Ohio’s First Marcellus Shale Wastewater Treatment Plant Now Open for Business”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

New Technology May Hold Key to Cleaning Fracking Fluids, Early Tests Very Promising
May 3, 2011May 3, 2011

A new technology funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory may hold the key to cleaning Marcellus Shale (and other drilling) fracking fluids. According to the press release from the DOE below, this new technology removes 99 percent of oil and grease from the water in fracking fluid, and it removes 90 percent of the nasty stuff: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes. The Osorb technology uses “swelling glass”—silica or sand-like particles—to absorb the chemicals. And it can be re-used over and over again. See a video of it in action below.

Read More “New Technology May Hold Key to Cleaning Fracking Fluids, Early Tests Very Promising”
Atlas Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA | Wastewater

MDN In-depth: Marcellus Wastewater Discharges via Municipal Sewage Treatment Plants into PA Waterways
April 25, 2011April 25, 2011

A number of stories have circulated since last week when the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) asked Marcellus Shale drillers to voluntarily (or else) stop using municipal sewage treatment plants by May 19 to treat and release drilling wastewater into PA’s rivers and streams (read MDN’s story here). One of the latest articles is (gasp) a pretty balanced article from the Associated Press, so let’s give credit where credit is due since MDN has previously stated almost all of AP’s reporting on the drilling industry is skewed against it.

Below is a list of things we learn from the most recent AP missive, along with MDN’s thoughts. First the background and history, then an examination of the chemistry, and finally what changed the drilling industry’s collective mind about this issue, including who the “real” culprit in all of this may be.

Read More “MDN In-depth: Marcellus Wastewater Discharges via Municipal Sewage Treatment Plants into PA Waterways”