Drilling firms plan wastewater disposal but details under wraps
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Five of Pennsylvania's six biggest Marcellus Shale gas companies have complied with a federal directive to disclose how and where they will dispose of drilling and hydraulic fracturing wastewater now that they have agreed not to use municipal sewage treatment facilities.
But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declined Thursday to reveal what the companies said about their wastewater disposal plans, saying it is just beginning to review the documents.
Meeting the EPA's Wednesday deadline were Range Resources, Atlas Resources LLC, Talisman Energy USA, Cabot Gas and Oil Corp. and SWEPI LP. Only Chesapeake Energy Corp. missed the deadline. The six account for more than half of the Marcellus gas drilling in the state.
The EPA sought the information to make sure the drillers are properly disposing of their wastewater after the state asked all Marcellus drilling companies to voluntarily stop using the sewage treatment facilities. Those plants are ill-equipped to properly treat the wastewater, which contains high concentrations of dissolved solids, bromides, heavy metals and salty brines.
Matt Sheppard, a spokesman for Chesapeake, said company representatives met with the EPA Thursday and agreed to supply the requested information "on a rolling basis" beginning Thursday and continuing over the next two weeks.
"Chesapeake recycles and reuses the vast majority of our produced water in Pennsylvania and has been for quite some time," Mr. Sheppard said. "Material that is not being recycled is disposed of in government-approved underground injection wells."
He said those underground injection wells were located outside Pennsylvania in either Ohio or West Virginia.
David Sternberg, an EPA spokesman, said the DEP, as requested, had provided the federal agency with a list of 17 municipal and privately owned treatment facilities that had been accepting the drilling wastewater form Marcellus wells. He said the agency would continue to track the drilling wastewater and work with the DEP to determine if pre-treatment programs or additional permits are needed for facilities that continue to accept the wastewater and discharge it into streams and rivers.
"Once EPA has determined which, if any, wastewater treatment facilities continue to accept shale gas extraction wastewater, EPA will discuss with DEP what additional sampling may be appropriate," Mr. Sternberg said.
First Published May 27, 2011 12:00 am
