Drilling Waste Needs Better Oversight

updated June 12

Last month Environmental Advocates of New York wrote a report, “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” that documents how the state is monitoring – or isn’t monitoring – the transport and treatment, or disposal of gas drilling waste. Their conclusion: NY isn’t doing a good job, and based on the proposals under review, the state isn’t ready to oversee the millions of gallons of waste fluids that high-volume fracking will generate.

The group is calling on Governor Cuomo to declare drilling wastes as hazardous hold fracking waste to the same standards as other waste*, prohibit sewage plants from accepting drilling waste, and ban road spreading. 

(* Currently NY classifies drilling waste as industrial, not hazardous. The report calls for this defacto exemption to be repealed and frack waste treated on par with other waste generated in the state: if it contains hazardous material, it would be treated as hazardous waste; if not, it would be treated like other industrial wastes.)

Their report is based on review of nearly 100 Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permits for the state’s operating gas wells.

Katherine Nadeau, Water & Natural Resources Program Director for Environmental Advocates of New York, says that under state law, DEC asks drillers two questions during the application process regarding waste disposal:

1.    How will drilling fluids and stimulation fluids be contained and disposed of?

2.    If brine will be stored onsite, how will it be stored and disposed of?

Environmental Advocates’ review of drillers’ responses shows that in at least 16 cases, drillers failed to identify where waste was hauled or disposed of. At least 25 permit applications stated that wastes would be disposed of at “approved facilities” without identifying the facilities. Another nine cases indicated that waste would be disposed of per DEC regulations without specifying what this means.

This isn’t a problem unique to NY. The oil & gas boom in North Dakota has seen about 200 wells drilled each month in the northwest part of the state. Now they’re pumping twice as much oil as two years ago – and producing (and spilling) twice as much waste as before. Lines at injection wells have gotten so long that truckers are dumping their waste fluids rather than wait to dispose their waste fluids properly.

Communities need to Think about Drilling Waste Disposal before Drilling Begins

A couple weeks ago three area experts spoke in Ithaca about drilling waste disposal. One of these was attorney Rachel Treichler. 

Even though horizontal drilling in Marcellus shale has yet to begin in New York state, some communities are finding themselves faced with questions about how to handle drilling waste. A couple Pennsylvania Marcellus wells are already sending their drill cuttings to landfills in NY and at least one municipal wastewater treatment facility is accepting drilling waste fluids from vertically drilled wells. Over the past year, representatives from EPA and Penn State have suggested that underground injection wells may be the "safest" method for disposal of frack flowback and brine from Marcellus wells.

Currently there are six active injection wells in NY, and eight in PA. Ohio, with 159 active state-regulated injection wells, is concerned about the amount of wastewater expected from increased Marcellus drilling; the state is considering a 20-cents/barrel tax on out-of-state brine. 

The good news, says Treichler, is that local governments have some say in where disposal wells can be sited. That is, if municipalities already have such laws in place. If they don't, then "they should waste no time in developing local legislation to regulate disposal wells," Treichler says. 

Injection wells are regulated by EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act. In addition, DEC has its own list of criteria. While companies can drill a disposal well, a cheaper option may be to convert an existing deep well into an underground injection well. According to USGS geologist William Kappel (he's the guy in the middle), the geologic formations most likely to accept injected waste are the Oriskany and Medina sandstones and the Potsdam layer. But non-producing Trenton-Black River wells make good candidates, too, as they have larger spaces for liquids to fill.

What hydro-geologists need to know, Kappel says, are how porous the formation is, how permeable the layer is, and the thickness of the layer. They also need to know the locations of abandoned gas or oil – or even drinking water – wells in the area before injecting waste, because any unplugged wells could provide a conduit for waste fluid to contaminate groundwater.

“It is important that they do an injection test prior to any sustained liquid injection and observe the limits of injection capacity,” Kappel stressed. In one case a company tied to inject too much fluid into their wells. As the wells filled, they increased the pressure. Eventually their injections set off seismic activity.

For the municipal officials attending the forum, the most encouraging news is that they have the power to regulate disposal wells. Before a company may drill a disposal well – or convert an abandoned deep well to that use – it must apply for a number of permits. These include: an EPA permit for a Class IID injection well; a DEC State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit for brine disposal; a SPDES permit for stormwater runoff; a DEC MRB well permit to drill a brine well or convert a well to that purpose;  a Municipal Special Use permit if required by local law; a State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) for a brine disposal facility; and permission of the landowner.

“Municipalities may issue permits if their local laws require it or if zoning requires it” Treichler said. She encouraged all municipalities to adopt local laws without delay, as Marcellus drilling will produce a huge demand for disposal wells.