Home · Archives for brine

Just Say ‘No’ — Locals Ban Frack Waste in Pa.

by on · 1 Comment
Dr. Stephen Cleghorn of Paradise Gardens and Farm, who recently formed an easement on his property to ban the development of unconventional gas wells. © J.B.Pribanic

On January 9, 2013, in otherwise quiet Highland Township in Elk County, Pennsylvania, officials signed a community rights bill into law stopping the deposit of fracking waste within the township. Seneca Resources, the drilling and fracking arm of National Fuel Gas of Williamsville, N.Y., had planned to inject its “production fluids” (oil and gas drilling and fracking waste) into an injection well about 2,200 feet from Crystal Springs — a main source of water for James City — according to the Kane Republican. Injection wells have a history, both long and recent, of failing to contain waste and increasing the risk of exposure to drinking water supplies. So, residents of Highland Township asked their municipal officials to say “No.” A Community & Environmental Rights Movement Highland Township is the latest on a list of over 140 other communities that have said ‘no’ to factory farms, waste incinerators, corporate water withdrawals, and now fracking by passing rights-based ordinances. Marsha Buhl, president of the Highland Township Recreation Association, collected signatures from more than 230 township residents in order to ban the injection well.

USGS Finds Manmade Earthquakes Since 2001 from Oil & Gas

by on · comment
A well pad off of Walnut Road, in Tioga State Forest Pennsylvania, operated by Seneca Resources. photo: J.B.Pribanic

USGS: Recent Earthquakes “Almost Certainly Manmade” Report Implicates Oil and Natural Gas Drilling By Dusty Horwitt and Alex Formuzis for EWG Washington, D.C. – A U.S. Geological Survey research team has linked oil and natural gas drilling operations [...]

Drinking Dimock: A Glass Full of Gas Water

by on · 5 Comments
Drinking_water_sign

If the case of groundwater contamination by natural gas drilling in Dimock, Pennsylvania sets precedent for how the state deals with damaged private water wells, they may not require that the party responsible for the contamination restore your water permanently, [...]

1987 EPA Report Provides Evidence for Water Contamination from Fracking

by on · comment

In 2006 — according to a ProPublica report — a residential drinking water well in Garfield County, Colo., spewed gas and polluted water into the air after a nearby gas well was hydraulically fractured. Tests detected a chemical called 2-butoxyethanol (2-BE), commonly used in hydraulic fracturing, in the drinking water well. The EPA never studied the case, and Colorado officials did not pursue an in-depth investigation before the gas company reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the homeowner that included nondisclosure agreements.

How a Pressure Bulb Can Bring Frack Fluid to Groundwater

by on · comment
Marcellus Shale

An environment vs. energy debate has been heating up over the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale in Western Pennsylvania. Eventually, we expect the debate to arrive in eastern Ohio. The debate is mostly about a practice called “hydrofracking,” or just “fracking.” Fracking involves injecting water (“hydro”) into the [...]

Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Waste Records Are Incomplete

by on · comment
A waste pit or drill pit next to a High Quality and Exceptional Value waterway in Pennsylvania. Waste pits, like the one pictured, are frequently being buried by natural gas companies without DEP permission.

On May 12, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent Pennsylvania DEP Secretary Michael Krancer a letter asking “Pennsylvania to do a better job sampling, monitoring and regulating Marcellus Shale wastewater discharges near public drinking water sources.” Specific requests from the EPA included using “stricter public drinking water standards” and enacting “legally enforceable wastewater disposal regulations instead of relying on voluntary actions.” Brine Treatment Corporation in Franklin County, Pa. has not stopped receiving Marcellus waste altogether but is now limiting the amount of Marcellus wastewater it accepts, treats, and discharges into waterways.