Halloween Trick: Wastewater Spill in Hopewell

photo courtesy R. Donnan

Yesterday morning (yes, Halloween) Range Resources reported a spill of “treated” wastewater near a drill site in Hopewell Township, Washington County, PA – just a bit west of Pittsburgh. The 16,800-gallon spill (400 barrels) happened at 9:20 am when a contractor tried to move a temporary water line using an excavator.

The pipeline was installed to deliver treated flowback fluids to the impoundment at the well site. There it would be mixed with fresh water, stored, and recycled in future fracking operations. Though no fluids were being pumped through the pipeline at the time of the accident, there was residual fluid from a previous transfer.

The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told the press that the spill area was ditched and contained… then added that some recycled fluids entered a high-quality stream. Although DEP didn’t know how much waste fluid  had reached the creek, a spokesperson said that preliminary tests showed no impact on aquatic life in the water.

Range spokesman Matt Pitzarella called the incident “unacceptable”. But he’s said that before, because this is the third spill Range has had in as many years.

Back on May 26, 2009 Range spilled nearly 5,000 gallons of wastewater, including hydraulic fracturing fluids, into a tributary of Cross Creek Lake. DEP reported that the creek, a protected watershed near Pittsburgh, was “impacted by sediments all the way down to the lake and there was also evidence of a fish kill as invertebrates and fish were observed lying dead in the creek.”

That spill happened when the company was pumping fluids from the hydraulic fracturing of three wells through a six-inch pipe to a “DEP-approved” impoundment. Along the way, two screws along the pipe came loose. Pitzarella chalked it up to vandalism.

Range spilled another 10,000 gallons or more of flowback fluids in yet another accident that same year. That spill also resulted in a fish kill.

Pitzarella said that Range found “…both of these to be unfortunate and unacceptable.” But, he added, neither spill had any negative impacts on health or property.

Update on Spill as Stoscheck Well in Van Etten, NY

Last Monday, March 8, an operator for Talisman Energy (aka Fortuna) discovered brine dripping from the valve of a storage tank during a routine well inspection at Stoscheck well in Van Etten, NY. He reported the spill to NY Department of Environmental Conservation(DEC). At that time he reported that the valve on the brine tank froze and broke.

This Monday (March 15) someone at DEC kindly e-mailed me a spill report form with comments by the investigator, Chad Kehoe. In case you want to look up the spill on DEC's spills incident database, here's the spill number: 0912761.

On Tuesday, March 9 Kehoe visited the site, meeting both Joe Yarosz (DEC) and Jeff Bower (Fortuna). According to Bower, the valve in the brine tank drain line had frozen, damaging the inner seals. 
The pipe cap was also found to have been damaged - either by ice or possibly by cross threading.



The tank was "supposedly" measured on March 3 and had, since then, lost 18 inches of brine - equivalent to 18 barrels or 756 gallons. Upon finding the leak Fortuna drained the tank below the drain line and replaced the valve.

According to Fortuna, the Stoscheck well (drilled into the Trenton-Black River formation) produces a low volume of brine that is fairly dilute. According to Bower, it is less saline than sea water.

Fortuna agreed to dig a couple of test pits and sample soil and groundwater to determine what impacts have resulted from the spill. The first tests are of soil samples dug near the tank - they were sent to Benchmark Labs for analysis and results haven't been returned yet. The need and scope of additional sampling will be determined once the initial results are back.

Brine Spill at Stoscheck Well, Van Etten NY

added on March 15: The spill number for this incident is #0912761

 On Tuesday, March 9, NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) spill team responded to a brine leak reported at the Stoscheck Well in Van Etten (Chemung County), NY.

Paul Bollard, an operator for Talisman Energy (previously Fortuna Energy) discovered brine dripping from the valve during a routine well inspection late on Monday afternoon. He called in the leak and by Tuesday morning the DEC responded with a spill team.

 The leak was caused by fresh water freezing in the valve fitting, Bollard explained. It froze because the brine produced from the Stoscheck well is less salty than the brine from some of the other Trenton-Black River wells.

 Because the high water table is so high in the area – groundwater is found at six feet – Talisman (Fortuna) collected soil samples from different depths at the spill site. The samples have been sent to a laboratory for analysis, but it will take a few days before results are known.

Joseph Yarosz, a mineral resource specialist for Region 8 DEC’s Division of Mineral Resources, suggested some steps Talisman might take to remedy the situation. “Raise the brine tank and build a secondary containment around it,” Yarosz said. He acknowledged that while secondary containment dikes are recommended in the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), they are not required by regulations.

EPA asks for Citizen's Help to Report Drilling Incidents

(overspray of drilling slurry; photo courtesy of Wes Gillingham, Catskill Mountainkeepers)

Like any industry, drilling for natural gas is bound to cause accidents and spills. As the pace of drilling picks up, so too will the corresponding rate of spills and incidents. This is already happening in Pennsylvania, reports ProPublica.

Even the EPA is concerned about the potential for increased spills and illegal disposal of drilling muds, sludge and wastewater. Earlier this week Region 3 announced the creation of a new “Eyes on Drilling” tip line. They created the tip line for citizens to report non-emergency "suspicious activity" related to oil and natural gas development that they observe. Although the announcement came from Region 3, they indicated they'll take calls from people anywhere in the country and act as a clearinghouse for citizen reports.

The toll free tip line number is 1-877-919-4EPA ( 1-877-919-4372) and reports may be e-mailed to . Those who don’t wish to identify themselves may provide tips anonymously.

In some cases a spill or release of hazardous material, including oil, presents an emergency. In those cases people should call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 .

EPA explained that the tip line grew out of "increased public concern about environmental impacts of oil and natural gas drilling" over the past few months. A lot of this concern was particularly focused on the development of Marcellus Shale.

You may read the EPAs press release here .

Tips for how to report suspicious activities are here.