Wastewater

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.

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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.

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Allegheny County | Cambria County | Elk County | Greene County (PA) | Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (PA) | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania | Snyder County | Venango County | Warren County | Wastewater | Westmoreland County

PA DEP, Marcellus Shale Coalition Admit Drilling Wastewater Likely Contaminating Drinking Water
April 19, 2011

There are 15 (of an original 27) municipal sewage treatment plants in Pennsylvania that still accept Marcellus Shale drilling wastewater. That is, until May 19 of this year.

Read More “PA DEP, Marcellus Shale Coalition Admit Drilling Wastewater Likely Contaminating Drinking Water”
Energy Services | Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Brine Treatment | Wastewater

PA Marcellus Wastewater Treatment Plant Threatens Lawsuit Against Pitt Researcher
April 14, 2011April 14, 2011

University of Pittsburgh researcher Conrad “Dan” Volz is resigning in May as director of Pitt’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities because of his “philosophical differences” with the university over the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling. Volz has been a visible and loud voice against drilling, and that does not sit well at Pitt.

Volz released a report on March 23, subsequently revised and reissued two days ago, critical of the Pennsylvania Brine Treatment plant near Black Lick, in Indiana County, PA. The plant treats and releases Marcellus Shale wastewater into the Blacklick Creek. In the report, Volz recommends the plant’s operations be halted.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA DEP Sec. Krancer Continues to Push Back Against the Federal EPA – Tells Them in April 6 Letter that PA is Doing Just Fine, Thanks
April 8, 2011April 8, 2011

On April 6, newly appointed PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael Krancer responded yet again to the overreaching federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a blunt and factual letter outlining the measures PA has already taken, and new policies they will be taking, to protect drinking water supplies for PA citizens. MDN previously wrote (see here) about the EPA’s interference in PA’s affairs following the sensational claims made by a series of articles in The New York Times that claimed PA was allowing radioactive wastewater to be dumped into PA waterways. About the same time as the Times articles, the DEP released the results of ongoing water testing in seven rivers that showed radioactivity levels were at or below normal levels.

Read More “PA DEP Sec. Krancer Continues to Push Back Against the Federal EPA – Tells Them in April 6 Letter that PA is Doing Just Fine, Thanks”
Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

Arkansas Officials Claim Injection Wells Used for Wastewater are Causing Earthquakes
April 4, 2011April 4, 2011

How do drilling companies dispose of drilling wastewater? In Pennsylvania and other locations, drillers recycle much of the wastewater (or fracking fluid) by mixing it with new water and reusing it. Some drillers are recycling 100 percent of their wastewater. But in some areas, drillers use a method called injection wells—pumping the wastewater down deep wells created specifically for disposing of it—in a place where it will not rise back to the surface.

Injection wells are being used in another shale formation, the Fayetteville Shale, in Arkansas. And use of those wells has caused some controversy. Some believe injection wells in Arkansas have led to earthquakes in the area.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Anti-Drilling Protestors in PA Break the Law (Again), This Time Disrupting a Meeting
March 30, 2011March 30, 2011

The Marcellus Shale Environmental Summit was held this week at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. Inside were some 120 people listening to speakers talk on the topic of using technology to treat drilling wastewater so that the wastewater doesn’t end up in Pennsylvania’s waterways. Most people would agree that’s a good thing.

Outside the hotel was a small group of 30 anti-drilling protestors. And as we saw a few weeks ago in Harrisburg (Anti-Drilling Protestors Get Nasty at Shale Coalition Building in Harrisburg, PA), these protestors were not content to peaceably and respectfully march and make their statement. They decided they were above the law:

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Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

Lancaster, PA Water District Wants Testing for Radioactivity in Susquehanna River
March 29, 2011March 29, 2011

The city of Lancaster, PA supplies drinking water for 110,000 people in the city and surrounding suburbs. The drinking water comes from both the Conestoga and Susquehanna Rivers, with more of it coming from the Conestoga. But the city is planning to change the mix and start drawing a majority of its water from the Susquehanna River—and that has them concerned about potential radioactivity from Marcellus Shale drilling.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

West Virginia’s Policy on Disposing Marcellus Drilling Wastewater: Injection Wells
March 29, 2011March 29, 2011

West Virginia’s policy on the wastewater produced from hydraulic fracturing is to dispose of it by pumping it into injection wells.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

How to Test Your Own Water if You Live Near Gas Drilling
March 21, 2011March 21, 2011

Sage advice for those living close to where gas drilling takes place has been to test your water. Be sure to test it before drilling begins, and then again once drilling is underway. Only if a homeowner tests prior to drilling can there be an airtight case if water should become contaminated. MDN points out that among the many thousands of gas wells drilled, there have been no known documented cases of well water chemical contamination from hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale. (Note: If you know of any, please send the information to us so we can make it known. Further Note: The well water contamination in Dimock, PA was due to methane/natural gas leaking into water supplies and not from fracking fluid chemical contamination.)

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Researcher Finds PA Marcellus Gas Drillers Reuse Two-Thirds of Wastewater on Average
March 21, 2011March 21, 2011

The Geological Society of America’s annual meeting was in full swing over the weekend with some 1,600 geologists meeting in downtown Pittsburgh. Prominent on the agenda is drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Read More “Researcher Finds PA Marcellus Gas Drillers Reuse Two-Thirds of Wastewater on Average”
Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

Southwest PA Waste Hauler Indicted for Illegally Dumping Marcellus Drilling Wastewater
March 18, 2011March 18, 2011

After a year-long investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, a waste hauler in southwest PA has been charged with illegal dumping of untreated fracking wastewater.

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Allegheny County | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Wastewater

Anti-Drilling Groups Planning Federal Lawsuit to Try and Stop Drilling in Western PA
March 11, 2011March 11, 2011

Those who oppose drilling in Pennsylvania are changing tactics and are now turning to the court system to try and stop drilling:

Read More “Anti-Drilling Groups Planning Federal Lawsuit to Try and Stop Drilling in Western PA”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

New York Times Proven Wrong – Marcellus Shale Wastewater Has Not Increased Radioactivity Levels in PA Waterways
March 8, 2011March 9, 2011

It seems that The New York Times’ contention that Pennsylvania is poisoning waterways with radioactivity from Marcellus Shale wastewater was fiction and not science, as is now proven by test results from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP conducted tests over the past four months at key locations where wastewater is treated and released into area waterways. Here’s what they found with respect to radioactivity:
Read More “New York Times Proven Wrong – Marcellus Shale Wastewater Has Not Increased Radioactivity Levels in PA Waterways”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

U.S. EPA Tries to Tell PA DEP How to Do It’s Job – PA Pushes Back
March 8, 2011March 8, 2011

Even though extensive testing done by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has proven Marcellus Shale wastewater does not increase levels of radioactivity in its waterways (see here), that doesn’t stop the over-reaching federal Environmental Protection Agency from interfering in PA’s business:

Read More “U.S. EPA Tries to Tell PA DEP How to Do It’s Job – PA Pushes Back”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Was the Pennsylvania DEP Bribed to Avoid Better Tracking of Marcellus Drilling Wastewater?
March 4, 2011March 4, 2011

The latest fallout from The New York Times story is about how wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling operations in Pennsylvania is tracked as it is disposed. Supposedly the Times has found that there is a conspiracy:

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