PA Businessman Convicted of Illegal Wastewater Dumping For Years

Bridge over Ten Mile Creek, Greene County, PA

Words fail.  This man, Robert Shipman, 50, of Holbrook, Greene County, PA, illegally dumped millions of gallons of waste across Western Pennsylvania counties for more than six years.  Millions of gallons of toxic waste for more than six years.  This man instructed his employees to mix various wastes together into a "cocktail," and then dump the mixture illegally.  Drivers were told to leave their water valves open at gas wells to allow production water toflow onto the ground and into nearby waterways.  This activity typically happened after dark or during heavy rains.  Drivers were also told to park their vehicles in the garage at Shipman's business and dump the water into a floor drain, which led to a nearby stream.  One of the streams affected was Ten Mile Creek in Greene County.

Read the article here.

There is no way to describe the heinous actions of this man.  I think evil is the best word I can think of.  And he will perhaps spend 30- 60 days in jail which is a standard range sentence.  Furthermore, Shipman stole more than a quarter of a million dollars from clients through overbilling and illegal dumping.  He will have to pay a $100,000 fine and court costs and be required to make a $25,000 donation to an environmental group.  None of these punishments is adequate.  Not even close.

Fraccident in PA: Popular Mechanics Weighs In

We're not supposed to drink what?

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Popular Mechanics featured an article on Tuesday's well spill in Leroy Township, Bradford County, PA.  The well operated by Chesapeake Energy erupted just before midnight April 19th, sending thousands of gallons of contaminated frack fluid over the earthen berms surrounding the well pad and down through farmlands to a nearby creek which flows into the Susquehanna River.  The well is Atgas 2H located about 175 miles northwest of Philly.  The mishap occurred while the crew was in the middle of a "frack job."  Although the investigation into this accident is not complete, officials believe a steel coupling located beneath the well's blowout protector, but above ground, failed, allowing the flowback to gush out.  This blowout protector is the same technology as the device that failed in the Gulf oil spill one year ago this week.  What happened in Leroy is not being described as a blowout which would have involved an explosion and methane release into the air.  However, there was no way to immediately stop the flow of water.  As the PM article siad, "there was a lot of water."  Normally this flowback is collected in pits or tanks, processed to remove some of the contaminents, and then partially reused in other wells.  However, some of the waste is trucked out of state or worse, diluted and released by treatment facilities into rivers and streams.

Prior to the incident this week,  there had been days of steady rain which had partially filled the containment pits, causing the pits to overflow when the accident occurred.  Then the berms failed as well.  DEP officials have warned farmers  to stop their cows from drinking surface water. [And we know how easy it is to monitor cows.]

Investigators did not immediately disclose the chemical make-up of the fracking fluid that escaped.  Some of the chemicals are proprietary, making it impossible for emergency workers to know what to test for or treat for.  Popular Mechanics said,

If initial estimates are accurate, it would make Wednesday's incident the most serious fracking accident in the history of Marcellus Shale development.

That is quite a claim to make. 

Methane bubbles in the Susquehanna in Sugar Run
Credit: Don Williams

PA Gas Driller Tells Drivers To Dump Waste Illegally

Last week a waste hauler by the name of Robert Allan Shipman from Southeastern Pennsylvania and his company, Allan's Waste Water Service, were accused of dumping fracking wastewater and sewage illegally into local waterways and mine shafts.

How many times has this happened and was not caught?  It's a lot cheaper and easier to dump toxic waste when nobody's looking than to follow the law.  There are far too many wells and trucks involved in this unregulated industry to be able to inspect and keep tabs on everything.  It would be an effort in futility.

Read more:
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Uintah County (Utah) may violate environmental laws

"30-year practice in Uintah County may violate environmental laws: "...That's because the high-temperature water used by the county's road crews to de-ice culverts is the minimally-treated byproduct of oil and natural gas drilling, which means it can contain drilling fluid, hydrocarbons and other unknown contaminants. The county's practice — which may have been in place for as many as 30 years — was brought to the health department's attention on Jan. 10 by a homeowner near 500 West and 1500 North. The man provided Brown with video he captured of a road department employee who had just unloaded produced water into a roadside ditch. The video, obtained by the Uintah Basin Standard through a public records request, shows the homeowner climbing into the ditch and scooping out a jar full of steaming, cloudy water. It also clearly shows the door of the truck with the words "Uintah County" emblazoned on the side...The water used by the county came from ponds owned by Western Energy Operating LLC, based in Casper, Wyo., he said..."

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Kudos to this citizen who got the contaminated water sample and made the video.