Waste Disposal
Water Management Technologies
-
Oil & Natural Gas Technology Submitted by:John A. Veil. Argonne National Laboratory Argonne, IL Prepared for:United States Department of Energy. National Energy Technology Laboratory. July 2010. DOE Award No.: FWP 49462. Final Report: Water Management Technologies Used by Marcellus Shale Gas Producers.
Hazardous Wastes
- US EPA. “Exemption of Oil and Gas Exploration and Productions Wastes from Federal Hazardous Waste Regulations.” http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/industrial/special/oil/oil-gas.pdf
- Exemption of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Wastes from Federal Hazardous Waste Regulations 2Printed onoil-gas.pdf (application/pdf Object).
- US EPA – Radiation Protection “Oil and Gas Production Wastes.” Website. http://www.epa.gov/radtown/drilling-waste.html
- US EPA. “Radioactive Waste From Oil and Gas Drilling.” Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (6608J) EPA 402-F-06-038 | April 2006 http://www.epa.gov/radtown/docs/drilling-waste.pdf
- US Geological Service. Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) in Produced Water and Oil-Field Equipment— An Issue for the Energy Industry. USGS Fact Sheet FS–142–99. September 1999DF]
-
Environmental management in oil and gas exploration and production. solid waste disposal onshore and impact on local infrastructure. …www.ogp.org.uk/pubs/254.pdf –
Landfills
Transportation of drill cuttings and other drill waste.
-
Report in Oct From Tom Shelley: Dear Friends–Yesterday I was driving into Ithaca on Elmira Rd. (Rt. 13N.) Being a chemical safety and hazardous materials specialist by profession (now retired!) I couldn’t help to notice a really strange chemical hauling tank truck ahead of me. I pulled up to the truck and took the photos attached. This vehicle is hauling some sort of fracking waste–fracking water or sludge or brine or some other sort of chemical mixture from gas production. Anyone have any idea on where this truck came from? Or where it was going? To a treatment plant; maybe the one in Watertown? Or what could have been in the truck? Any “residual waste” truck accidents–leaks, spills, roll-overs?
This truck is licensed in PA and according to PA Code, CHAPTER 287. RESIDUAL WASTE MANAGEMENTGENERAL PROVISIONS, Part § 287.1. Definitions, “residual waste” is
“…Garbage, refuse, other discarded material or other waste, including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous materials resulting from industrial, mining and agricultural operations and sludge from an industrial, mining or agricultural water supply treatment facility, wastewater treatment facility or air pollution control facility, if it is not hazardous. The term does not include coal refuse as defined in the Coal Refuse Disposal Control Act. The term does not include treatment sludges from coal mine drainage treatment plants, disposal of which is being carried on under and in compliance with a valid permit issued under the Clean Streams Law.”
Now the oil and gas industries have been exempted from the usual hazardous waste regulations that apply to other industries, so even though residual waste is supposed to be “not hazardous” it does not mean that the contents of this truck were not hazardous.
If anyone has any follow up information on this type of vehicle it would be greatly appreciated. P.S.: Gas Field Specialists, Inc., has a web site at http://www.gfsinc.net/. They are based in Shinglehouse, PA and they have other locations including a site in Horseheads, NY. They are especially proud of their frac tanks, the featured product on their web site.
NY DEC Materials with Beneficial Use Determination
http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/buduse.pdf
Illegal Dumping of Waste
- Sent: Sun, December 5, 2010 9:29:29 PM. Subject: [Shaleshock] citizen journalist catches frac fluid dumping in near Washington PA
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToNjVL7ZGA8Caught this guy dumping Frac Fluid on Rt 19 approximately 4 miles north of Washington, PA. He was parked and out of the truck with water running when I drove by. I had my video camera because I was on my way to my son’s hockey game at Bethel Park. When he saw me stop and search for my camera, he shut the water off, got in his truck and drove away. This was Sunday morning around 9:39 am on the 5th of December 2010. I called the PA DEP and registered a complaint.
Injection Wells:
-
Investigation: Chemical waste being hauled to Ohio Injection Wells. Oct. 2010.
- Pulteney Zoning Law – Zoning Code that allowed the town input to Injection Well permitting process
Potential for Accidents:
- http://www.the-leader.com/features/x863066667/
- Truck-carrying-well-drill-cuttings-overturns-near-landfill. By Derrick Ek Corning Leader Posted Aug 30, 2010 @ 11:54 PM Painted Post, N.Y. —
A dump truck carrying Pennsylvania gas well drill cuttings bound for a local landfill crashed early Monday afternoon on Erwin Hollow Road, spilling its cargo over an embankment to the edge of a stream in the Erwin Hollow State Forest.
The driver, Joseph J. Kuen, 60, of Northampton, Pa., was sent to the emergency room at Corning Hospital to be treated for minor injuries, according to New York State Police at the scene.
Kuen had lacerations caused by shards of glass from the dump truck’s shattered windshield, troopers said.
Kuen was ticketed for driving at a speed not reasonable or prudent.
He was driving uphill on Erwin Hollow Road, headed for the private Hakes C&D Landfill up on Manning Ridge Road. He was entering a sharp curve when the dump truck skidded and overturned. The impact left gashes several inches deep in the asphalt.
The accident happened less than a mile up Erwin Hollow Road.
Erwin Hollow Road is off Victory Highway. The turn is near a shopping plaza and the Painted Post exit off Interstate Highway 86.
Kuen was believed to be hauling cuttings from the well bores of Marcellus Shale natural gas wells being drilled in Pennsylvania, near the Williamsport area, troopers said. The cuttings were mixed with sawdust, which is used by drilling companies to solidify the mud before it is taken to landfills.
Environmental groups say drill cuttings contain radioactive materials from deep beneath the earth’s surface, although landfill operators and regulatory agencies say it is in low levels.
The load Kuen was hauling Monday for a Washington, N.J.-based company was not classified as hazardous, troopers said, although the state Department of Environmental Conservation was called to investigate as a precaution.
The spilled cargo appeared to stop just short of the edge of the stream, which feeds into the Conhocton River just above its confluence with the Chemung River.
Crane’s Towing was called in to handle the task of uprighting the dumptruck and using heavy machinery to clean up the mess. The hauling company will be billed for cleaning up the accident scene, according to state police.
The Painted Post and Coopers Plains fire departments assisted at the scene. Painted Post village police and Rural/Metro Medical Services also responded. Copyright 2010 The Corning Leader. Some rights reserved
Local Control of Drilling Waste
Waste Water Treatment Facilities
- Warren sewage plant gets OK to treat gas-drilling wastewater. Youngstown News (Ohio) December 4, 2010 By Ed Runyan
- Note: The Mahoning River flows from Warren, Ohio into Pennsylvania to join the Shenango River (which flows down from the Advanced Waste plant they mention in New Castle) to become the Beaver River and flow into the Ohio River near Monaca.
At least one water authority near Beaver Falls is already having trouble treating river water to drinking water standards (PDF document 1 <http://www.marcellus-shale.us/pdf/Beaver-Falls-Mun-Auth_alert.pdf> & document 2 <http://www.marcellus-shale.us/pdf/North-Sewickley-Twp_alert_6-3-10.pdf> ).
Pingback: Public Hearing on Cortland Co. Landfill Dec. 6 at 6:pm « GDACC