Doug McLinko: Everything's Comin' Up Roses

According to Doug McLinko, Commissioner in Bradford County, PA, the gas drilling in his county is doing very well.  And it is completely safe, no problems at all.  Who is he kidding?  Actor and Callicoon, NY, resident, Mark Ruffalo, along with a lot of people, does not agree with Mr. McKlinko.

Drilling Wastewater Goes Into PA Rivers

ProPublica reports on the dire situation regarding the disposal of wastewater from gas drilling operations in PA.  One-fifth of the wastewater is apparently unaccounted for.

"As gas-drilling operations proliferated in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale over the past couple of years, most of the hundreds of millions of gallons of briny wastewater they produced was eventually dumped into the state's rivers. Much of the rest is unaccounted for. That news, from a detailed look [1] at the state's management of drilling wastewater by the Associated Press, should come as no surprise....."

Read more...

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

In memory of Karen Korell

Splashdown

Residents Speak Out Against Proposed "Frac Water" Processing Plant

Kudos to the Wyalusing Rocket Courier for this excellent article published today. DC Koviack reported on a hearing and meeting held Tuesday at the Tunkhannock Middle School in regard to a proposed water treatment plant that would discharge treated frac water (from natural gas wells) into Meshoppen Creek. Wyoming Somerset Regional Water Resources Corporation has applied for a permit to locate this plant in Lemon Township (Wyoming County, PA).

The area chosen for this plant has five wetlands within it, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. And it was designated a SUPERFUND SITE and slated for clean-up over a decade ago because of pollution, but was allowed to remain untreated because its wetlands have held the toxins, thus avoiding further pollution in surrounding areas. If this site were to be excavated, which is the plan, this would undoubtedly unleash all this contamination from the past, to say nothing of the contamination of a new water treatment plant..

Although this proposed treatment plant would ideally treat the water and make it 100% reusable, this cannot be done. So some of the treated water would be discharged into Meshoppen Creek, a now pristine creek which was used as a dump in the 1950's and 60's and cleaned up in the 1980's. Many citizens spoke out against dumping treated frac water into the creek and start the whole polluting process all over again. Meshoppen Creek flows into the Susquehanna River and ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay. This water ecosystem provides irreplaceable biodiversity which, once destroyed, cannot be restored.

The consensus at the meeting was that the permit should be denied.

Read the article here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!
NO PERMIT FOR THIS WATER TREATMENT PLANT!

Williamsport Proposed Site for Wastewater Treatment Plant

A discharge permit for a gas well wastewater treament plant on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River has been published by the PA DEP. It was published on May 2, 2009, for a 30-day public comment period. The permit is the first for the DEP. Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell said:

When approved, this permit will establish specific treatment parameters for gas well drilling wastewater, which includes frac water, brine water and drill water.

The permit would allow between 54,412 and 522,245 pounds per day of total dissolved solids to be discharged to the river. A maximum of 400,000 gallons a day of typical well-drilling wastewater would be treated and discharged from a facility to be constructed on the Water Tower Square property in Williamsport. Ten more permits are in the works for the West Branch of the river, all of which will be published by the end of June 2009.

An article in the Williamsport newspaper, The Sun-Gazette, reports:

"The DEP has adopted a strategy for allowable dissolved solids entering the river. Effective Jan. 1, 2011, an average monthly limit of 500 parts per million of total dissolved solids, and 250 parts per million of chlorides and sulfates will be allowed to be discharged into the river.

In the meantime, the river's assimilative capacity - its ability to take in toxic materials without harming aquatic life or humans who consume the water - will be divided among 10 proposed dischargers, including Terra-Aqua Resource Management LLC."

Discharging treated frac water into the river is a troubling proposition. Will the treatment process remove all toxins? Doesn't the phrase "assimilative capacity" mean that it will be acceptable to pollute the river as long as the fish don't die or develop tumors and people don't get sick after swimming in the water?

Read the whole article here. More here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!