Wastewater

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    PA Marcellus Gas Drillers Close to Recycling 100 Percent of Wastewater, Now Use Just a Few Chemicals in Fracking

    One of the chief objections of those who oppose drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale is the amount of water used in drilling—an average of 3-4 million gallons per well. Environmentalists raise the alarm of sourcing the water from rivers and streams, and the disposal of what’s left over.

    Here’s how the numbers break down: It takes between 100,000 and 300,000 gallons of water during the drilling process itself, and another 3-4 million gallons of water gets mixed with sand and chemicals and pumped in under pressure to fracture the shale, releasing the gas. Anywhere from 10 to 50 percent of the water comes back out—something called “flowback.”

    Read More “PA Marcellus Gas Drillers Close to Recycling 100 Percent of Wastewater, Now Use Just a Few Chemicals in Fracking”

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    New York Times Publishes Hit Piece on Natural Gas Drilling, Quoted Source Responds to the Article

    New York Times buildingHave no fear, the great New York Times is now on the case of natural gas drilling, and it has “uncovered” some rather disturbing news:

    With hydrofracking, a well can produce over a million gallons of wastewater that is often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground. Other carcinogenic materials can be added to the wastewater by the chemicals used in the hydrofracking itself.

    While the existence of the toxic wastes has been reported, thousands of internal documents obtained by The New York Times from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.(1)

    Read More “New York Times Publishes Hit Piece on Natural Gas Drilling, Quoted Source Responds to the Article”

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    EPA Public Hearing on Proposed Fracking Fluid Injection Wells in Warren County, PA

    UPDATE: The EPA hearing scheduled for Feb. 23 was postponed because a stenographer was not available to attend and record the meeting. It will be rescheduled “in the next several weeks.”

    Application has been made to inject wastewater from hydraulic fracturing operations in Pennsylvania into two wells in Warren County, PA.

    Read More “EPA Public Hearing on Proposed Fracking Fluid Injection Wells in Warren County, PA”

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    CONSOL Energy Building Coal Mine Acid Water Treatment Plants to Produce Water for Marcellus Shale Drilling

    CONSOL Energy is a long-time coal producing company and now the third largest player (by acreage) in the Marcellus Shale after buying Dominion Resource’s gas exploration and production division (for $3.5 billion). So what’s next for CONSOL? Water!

    CONSOL already traps and treats millions of gallons of water from the coal mining operations they have. They now plan to reuse that water for their Marcellus Shale drilling operations, and perhaps even sell it to their drilling competitors.

    “We already have access to all this water that we already own and already treat,” running from underground mines such as the Bailey-Emerald complex in Greene and Washington counties, [Consol CEO J. Brett] Harvey said.

    “We are actually going into the water business, I would say,” he said. Natural gas “was a byproduct of coal, and we built a gas company. Now it looks like water is a byproduct of all this (coal production), and we’ll probably develop great water resources for the state.”

    Each [coal] mine treats and discharges millions of gallons each year. Consol will spend $200 million to $300 million over the next five years to build four or five new water treatment plants in Marcellus areas, he said, adding, “I’d love to be in the position where I am selling water to all our competitors” who now buy water from municipalities and other sources.

    The idea is gaining momentum elsewhere.

    “The reusing of acid mine drainage for fracking is a viable alternative to using surface and ground water,” Radisav Vidic, chairman of the civil and environmental engineering department at the University of Pittsburgh, told an audience at a Marcellus Shale conference yesterday at Duquesne University.*

    *Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (May 5) – Consol pegs water as next business move

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    A New and Potentially Safer Way to Treat Marcellus Shale Wastewater

    A Pittsburgh startup company formed at the Pittsburgh Allegheny-Singer Research Institute believes it has developed a better solution than current alternatives for treating wastewater from drilling Marcellus Shale gas wells. Frac Biologics Inc. was founded by physicians, so it’s no surprise the technology comes from the medical community:

    “The idea for the company came from our work with biofilms, which are (cell) communities that we try to manipulate or get rid of to treat human disease,” said Christopher Post, a physician and CEO of the 3-month-old company. Other founders are physician William Costerton and Garth Ehrlich. All three are Allegheny-Singer directors.

    Allegheny-Singer researchers found the biofilms love to eat heavy metals, such as strontium, nickel, even uranium. The metals, in effect, fuel the biofilms, Post said.*

    Water used in drilling Marcellus wells often comes out of the well containing small quantities of heavy metals. One of the objections to hydraulic fracturing is that wastewater from drilling eventually needs to be returned to the environment, and if it’s laced with heavy metals it is not safe. If Frac Biologics is successful with their concept, perhaps some of those objections can be addressed.

    *Pittsburgh Tribute-Review (Apr 22) – New company says it can safely handle Marcellus wastewater

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    Opinion: How the AP and Other Media Outlets “Wag the Dog” Against Drilling in the Marcellus Shale

    Google News Search "Louis Matoushek" MDN notes with some amusement how news is manufactured—and is thankful blogs are around to help set the story straight. Case in point: A few days ago the Associated Press ran a single story about the “raging debate” over gas drilling in Northeast Pennsylvania. While the drilling debate is certainly ongoing, and there are plenty of people on both sides of the debate, the AP story would have us believe the forces of good (people against drilling) are rising up in overwhelming numbers to oppose the forces of evil (the nasty energy companies who want to rape and pillage the unspoiled landscape, along with the greedy landowners who enable them).

    That single AP anti-drilling story was picked up by no less than 250 media outlets, including large city newspapers, television stations and everything down to small town newspapers—all in the course of two days. One would have to be blind to miss the coverage and not think, “Maybe there are a lot of people opposed to drilling after all!” And all from a single story run again and again and again.

    The AP story starts this way:

    A few hundred yards from Louis Matoushek’s Wayne County farmhouse is a well that could soon produce not only natural gas, but a drilling boom in the wild and scenic Delaware River watershed.

    Energy companies have leased thousands of acres of land in Pennsylvania’s unspoiled northeastern tip, hoping to tap vast stores of gas in a sprawling rock formation—the Marcellus shale—that some experts believe could become the nation’s most productive gas field.*

    But wait, it’s not enough that the villainous drilling companies want to spoil the unspoiled land in PA. While that argument will sway some readers, let’s throw in the thing that works every time, the one thing that will magically turn everyone against drilling: Water.

    Standing in the way is a loose coalition of sporting groups, conservationists and anti-drilling neighbors. They contend that large-scale gas exploration so close to crucial waterways will threaten drinking water, ruin a renowned wild trout fishery, wreck property values, and transform a rural area popular with tourists into an industrial zone with constant noise and truck traffic.

    Both sides are furiously lobbying the Delaware River Basin Commission, the powerful federal-interstate compact agency that monitors water supplies for 15 million people, including half the population of New York City. The commission has jurisdiction because the drilling process will require withdrawing huge amounts of water from the watershed’s streams and rivers and because of the potential for groundwater pollution.*

    PA learns fast. They look over the border at New York where City politicians bleat about the New York City watershed as if drillers are about to poison the water supply of the entire City, and say, “Hey, if it works for them, maybe it will work for us.” And so, the shrill voices in PA have found their argument: Drilling pollutes water. Run the story (i.e. lie) enough times and after a while people will believe it.

    Don’t fall for the lie. And landowners: Make your voices heard!

    *Pittsburgh Tribute-Review/AP (Apr 19) – Gas-drilling foes fear for local water supplies

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    PA Secretary of Environmental Protection Says Marcellus Wastewater Discharge is Affecting Waterways

    The Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), John Hanger, released a press statement yesterday expressing concerns over Marcellus drilling wastewater being released into PA waterways.

    From the DEP website:

    HARRISBURG — High levels of total dissolved solids pollution from natural gas drilling and other sources pose a real threat to Pennsylvania’s streams and rivers, including aquatic life, warned Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger today.

    “The treating and disposing of gas drilling brine and fracturing wastewater is a significant challenge for the natural gas industry because of its exceptionally high TDS concentrations,” said Hanger. “Marcellus drilling is growing rapidly and our rules must be strengthened now to prevent our waterways from being seriously harmed in the future.”

    Hanger pointed to recent examples where TDS impaired streams and affected major sources of drinking water.

    In 2008 and 2009, TDS levels exceeded drinking water standards along the Monongahela River, which is a major source of drinking water. Drinking water treatment plants do not have the equipment available to remove TDS, so any water polluted with TDS goes into Pennsylvania’s homes and businesses.

    Similarly, in early September 2009, excessive TDS levels led to an environmental disaster that wiped out 26 miles of Dunkard Creek in Greene County, as well as many miles of the creek in West Virginia. These high TDS concentrations, coupled with other factors such as temperature and nutrient concentrations, enabled golden algae to bloom and created an inhospitable environment for aquatic life. The algae released toxins to the water column that literally wiped out aquatic life, including at least 16 species of freshwater mussels and 18 species of fish.

    Dunkard Creek is an example of what can happen if TDS is not controlled, said Hanger, and the loss of this important public resource was an environmental and economic tragedy.

    TDS is a measure of all elements dissolved in water that can include carbonates, chlorides, sulfates, nitrates, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. In addition to natural gas drilling, other sources of TDS include, abandoned mine drainage, agricultural runoff, and discharges from industrial or sewage treatment plants.*

    *DEP Press Release (Apr 6) – PA Must Take Action to Protect Water Resources from Drilling Wastewater, Other Sources of TDS Pollution

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    Watertown, NY Votes to Accept Shale Wastewater in City’s Water Treatment Plant

    The City of Watertown, NY has voted to continue accepting wastewater (flowback) from hydraulic fracturing—but it’s not wastewater from the Marcellus Shale. This wastewater comes from a driller in Central New York—Gastem—who is drilling Utica Shale gas wells using hydraulic fracturing. Utica Shale is much deeper than Marcellus Shale and uses much less water to frack the well because it is vertical and not horizontal as it would be with a Marcellus well.

    The city’s water treatment plant accepted 35,000 gallons of wastewater from Gastem last summer and discharged the treated water into the Black River. Gastem wants the city to treat an additional 80,000 gallons this summer.*

    The volume of wastewater being treated in Watertown is miniscule compared to what is generated from a Marcellus well. But it is interesting that the city council has decided there is no hazard for the citizens of Watertown from treated frack fluids.

    *CNYcentral.com (Apr 7) – Watertown to dispose of gas well fracking fluid

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    Cornell Hydraulic Fracturing Expert Headlines First Meeting of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) in Vestal, NY

    Ingraffea_Anthony Nearly one week ago, on March 31, MDN attended the kickoff meeting of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) at the Vestal Public Library in Broome County, NY. No, MDN is not anti-drilling! We attend to listen and learn. The drilling debate is increasingly political in tone. Those of us who support drilling need to listen to those in our communities who oppose it—as a courtesy, to be sure we have not missed important information that informs our own opinions, and so we understand our opponents’ arguments in this debate—to be able to intelligently respond to their (often inaccurate and overhyped) accusations.

    The meeting room at the Vestal Public Library was filled to capacity for the meeting with about 120 people attending. Local news media was there, as well as cameras from (presumably) NYRAD themselves. MDN observation: As was the case when DISH, TX Mayor Calvin Tillman recently visited, there were a number of balding men with gray-haired ponytails in the audience. MDN continues to posit the theory that many 60s hippies have found a new cause célèbre that now energizes them—gas drilling.

    The meeting was opened by a NYRAD official who introduced the evening’s main speaker, Professor Anthony Ingraffea. Dr. Ingraffea is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University. His Ph.D. is in rock fracturing mechanics. He has done twenty years of research on hydraulic fracturing for companies like Schlumberger, Exxon and the Gas Research Institute. If anyone knows how rock fracturing works, it is Dr. Ingraffea. I eagerly anticipated what he would say about hydraulic fracturing and whether or not the process contaminates water supplies, a commonly leveled charge by drilling opponents.

    Dr. Ingraffea is an accomplished speaker. He is equal parts comedian and expert, and he knows how to “work a crowd.” I can easily imagine that he’s a favorite professor at Cornell, one whose classes fill quickly. In his opening remarks he admitted he feels passionately about the issue of drilling in New York State, and that he is opposed to it. He opened his talk with a technique often employed by those who are anti-drilling. He mentioned he loves fishing for trout in New York’s streams and he asked the audience a question: “Would you like to keep fishing in New York State?” The implication is that if drilling begins, trout fishing is finished. It’s a non sequitur—a statement that does not follow from the premise. In the course of his presentation he never once connected any dots that drilling activity would lead to poisoning of streams and the end of trout fishing. This was a tip-off that the evening might disappointingly hold more emotional statements rather than factual statements. Unfortunately, that’s exactly how it turned out.

    Read More “Cornell Hydraulic Fracturing Expert Headlines First Meeting of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) in Vestal, NY”

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    Will Soil be the New “Water” in the Fight to Stop Marcellus Gas Drilling in NY State?

    MDN finds it necessary to periodically post disclaimers such as the following: We think drilling can be done safely, but we must remain vigilant. The more we know about drilling, the more we are convinced it is a good thing for the economy and the nation’s energy future. We are not anti-science, we’re not blind, we do care about our neighbors and we welcome opposing opinions. No one wants water supplies to be poisoned, and no one wants enjoyment of the great outdoors to be spoiled by drilling activity. And it doesn’t have to be that way if drilling is done right.

    With that said, the other side of the drilling debate seems to stop at nothing to instill irrational fears into the general population under the guise of science. Put the name of a prominent educational institution next to a committee or group, invoke the name of someone with a Ph.D., and viola, instant credibility. And if you dare say, “but the Emperor has no clothes” out loud, you’re shouted down as an industry shill or accused of being greedy at others’ expense. Such loving and caring people those who disagree with us.

    Since “your water will be poisoned” doesn’t seem to be getting sufficient traction these days as a scare tactic, we now find out that soil is “sensitive” (bet you didn’t know that!) to drilling activity:

    Researchers have developed the Cornell Soil Health Test to evaluate soil response to management on different types of land. It’s intended to assess changes due to gas drilling work.

    The construction necessary to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in southern New York could affect the soil around drilling sites and pipeline right-of-ways, says a Cornell soil expert who has helped develop a new soil health test to assess such impacts.

    “Soil is sensitive to heavy construction, and while there are a lot of construction standards and practices, there isn’t really a standardized way to measure construction impacts on soil behavior,” said Robert Schindelbeck, a Cornell extension associate in crop and soil sciences and member of the Cornell Soil Health Team.

    To fill in that information gap, Schindelbeck and his team have developed the Cornell Soil Health Test (CSHT), a set of tests designed to evaluate soil response to management on different types of land.*

    *PhysOrg.com (Apr 1) – New test assesses gas drilling effects on soils

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    Three Upstate Landowners on New York City Public Radio Discuss Drilling in the Marcellus

    An interesting radio segment from WNYC Public Radio. Leonard Lopate conducted an interview with three Upstate landowners. From the program description:

    We’ll look into the controversy over drilling for natural gas in Marcellus shale in Upstate New York, and discuss the challenges landowners face when deciding whether to lease their land to gas companies, the role of landowners coalitions, and how public officials are managing the drilling already occurring in their towns. We’ll speak with Mark Dunau, organic farmer from Delaware County; Jim Bays, Supervisor of the Town of Smyrna, in Chenango County; and Abby Tamber, steering committee member of the Central New York Landowners Coalition.*

    While Mr. Dunau is clearly anti-drilling and Mr. Bays is somewhat anti-drilling, Ms. Tamber does a good job of representing local landowner groups and the concerns of landowners. The questions by the host are pretty good, and as far as public radio goes, this is about as fair and balanced as it gets. Overall, a B+ from MDN. Worth listening to as it does discuss some very important issues for landowners. Embedded player below—give it a listen! The segment is 34 minutes in length.

    *WNYC (Mar 23) – The Lenoard Lopate Show

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    Marcellus Driller Funds Water Monitoring Program in Susquehanna River Basin

    As Marcellus Drilling News previously noted, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission is in the process of placing 30 monitoring devices to track the effects of Marcellus drilling wastewater that enters area waterways. We now learn the program is being funded by the drilling industry itself:

    The commission used a $750,000 grant from natural gas company East Resources Inc. to start the monitoring system. The monitoring stations provide data on factors such as temperature, pH level, depth and clarity. That information is available immediately on the commission’s Web site, and the state Department of Environmental Protection is notified if any problems are found.*

    Kudos to East Resources for contributing a significant sum of money to help alleviate concerns that drilling is harming our waterways.

    *State College Centre Daily Times, via WaterWorld (Mar 19) – System monitors water quality

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    New Marcellus Wastewater Treatment Plant Set to Open in Westmoreland County, PA

    The Pennsylvania State Department of Environmental Protection has issued a permit for a new Marcellus drilling wastewater treatment facility to begin operations in April in western PA.

    Stephen Frobouck, a partner in Reserve Environmental Services Inc., said the treatment facility at the former American Video Glass plant in East Huntingdon, Westmoreland County, is ready for operations to begin in April.

    "We will have the capacity to handle (water from) 500 to 600 wells a year," Frobouck said Friday, declining to say how much the firm paid to prepare the plant for its new use.*

    *Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Mar 13) – Plant near New Stanton to treat gas wastewater

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    AOP Clearwater Plant in WV a Big Success in Treating Marcellus Shale Wastewater

    AOP Clearwater Plant, Fairmont, WV A lesson for Owego and Tioga County, NY from Marion County, West Virginia where a new wastewater treatment plant is a big success. The AOP Clearwater Plant is located just outside of Fairmont.

    According to AOP Clearwater President Louis Bonasso, they have had no problems getting customers from oil and gas drilling companies in the Marcellus Shale. In fact, the trucks are “lining up” at the facility.

    “We are a distillation-crystallization process, available to the oil and gas producing community in the area for clean-up of flow back and production brine waters,” said Bonasso.

    Which means, the contaminated water is brought in on trucks, put through an extensive cleaning process, and pumped back out–as clean water for the oil and gas companies to reuse.

    “We offer a very rapid unload-reload opportunity for trucking companies. Instead of sitting in line, we unload in about 11 minutes and we can reload in about the same time,” said Bonasso.*

    Beside creating 16 jobs and bringing revenue to the county, there is this positive side benefit:

    Through the cleaning process, salt is removed from the contaminated water and is able to be re-used to treat winter roads.

    “All the salt that we produced since the plant started operations in November was sold in Marion County to independent contractors and the city,” explained Bonasso.*

    *The State Journal (Mar 9) – AOP Clearwater Plant Open in Marion County

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    Patriot Water Decides Not to Build Marcellus Wastewater Treatment Plant in Owego, NY

    Last week, Patriot Water LLC withdrew their application to convert a former car dealership on the edge of the Village of Owego, NY (in Tioga County) into a wastewater treatment plant to deal specifically with wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania, and from New York, when drilling finally begins there.

    Each well drilled in the Marcellus will use approximately 3 million gallons of water during the process of hydro fracturing. Much of that water comes back out of the ground and needs to be treated so it can be re-used in drilling. Some of it will be treated and returned to area waterways, which is no different than the local sewage treatment plant. The fluids entering the environment from any wastewater plant must pass rigid tests to ensure no pollution occurs.

    So the news that Patriot Water was planning to build and operate such a plant was good news for the Southern Tier of New York, bringing jobs and tax revenue to Tioga County. But one problem: The proposed site was very close to residential areas. Yes, it is zoned industrial, but it would mean four trucks an hour, 24 hours a day running down residential streets, and local folks didn’t want it. Can’t blame them.

    But! Could Tioga County not have come back with a counter offer? Another location nearby that is not close to residential areas? Was there any kind of effort made at all? It appears not. And so, on March 3, Patriot Water said “no thanks” to Owego and Tioga County.

    MDN recommends Patriot have a look at nearby Broome County, NY. There’s a couple of industrial parks close to Interstates 81 & 86 (NY Route 17) in the Conklin and Kirkwood areas, and those locations have truck traffic all the time. Perhaps the members of the town planning boards in Broome County will actually show up for meetings (unlike the Tioga County Planning Board, five members of whom abrogated their duties by not showing up for a crucial meeting on the Patriot request). Come on over to Broome, Patriot!

    Owego Pennysaver (Mar 3) – Patriot Water, LLC withdraws application for Taylor Road site