‘Unauthorized’ wastewater hearing brings flowback feedback

By SANDY LONG

BRADFORD COUNTY, PA — When the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) held a series of hearings to receive public comment on its newly developed wastewater discharge standards, it did not schedule a session in Northeast Pennsylvania. In response, members of Clean Water Action of Pennsylvania (CWA) organized an “Unauthorized Wastewater Regs Hearing” earlier this month aimed at collecting comments and submitting them to the state agency before its deadline on February 12.

Brady Russell, Eastern Pennsylvania director of CWA, said that the organization scheduled the session at the Bradford County Conservation District in Wysox, PA to give citizens access to a forum for presenting their comments. According to Russell, approximately 50 people turned out, with some supplying verbal and written comments.

Comments are reviewed by the DEP’s Environmental Quality Board, a 20-member independent board that adopts all of the DEP’s regulations and also considers petitions to change regulations.

Many of those comments noted that while the proposed standards are an important starting point, there are shortcomings that still need to be addressed.

That assessment is supported by the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water, which submitted comments on behalf of more than 30 organizations such as the PA Forest Coalition, PA Environmental Defense Foundation, PA Council of Churches and the PA Organization for Watersheds and Rivers.

“Our organizations represent a combined membership of hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians from across the state who are deeply concerned with the protection of our water resources, our health and our communities,” wrote Myron Arnowitt of the Campaign for Clean Water.

Among other things, the letter calls for a “cradle to grave” wastewater monitoring system and better waste characterization to determine how to regulate the potential transfer of contaminants to other media such as air.

The South Branch Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Coalition applauded DEP’s proposal to reduce permitted levels of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and barium and strontium in wastewater discharges, but questioned whether the proposed standards go far enough in protecting aquatic fauna and habitats.

Many called for DEP to add additional discharge standards for contaminants frequently found in Marcellus Shale wastewater. Most called for a delay in new permits until the new regulations go into effect on January 1, 2011.

First permit issued for wastewater treatment

The DEP has issued its first new permit for treating drilling wastewater to TerrAqua Resource Management LLC of Williamsport, allowing the company to treat and discharge 400,000 gallons per day of gas well drilling wastewater into the West Branch Susquehanna River Watershed.

According to the DEP, the permit requires TerrAqua to meet the proposed new regulatory standards of 500 parts per million for total dissolved solids (TDS) and 250 parts per million for chlorides and sulfates. TerrAqua has indicated that it will pursue a thermal treatment process capable of reducing TDS levels to less than 500 parts per million at all times.

The discharge permit also requires TerrAqua to monitor for radioactivity, a large number of metals, including barium, strontium, iron, manganese and aluminum, as well as organics such as toluene, benzene, phenols, ethylene glycol and surfactants.

More than 150 people attended a DEP public meeting held in July 2009 to discuss the permit and more than 200 comments were received and reviewed by the DEP.

TerrAqua now must submit a water quality management permit application to DEP for the treatment plant’s design and technology. The company has also applied for a general permit from DEP’s waste management program to process, recycle and reuse this wastewater for subsequent fracking operations.

The DEP Northcentral Regional Office has nine additional permit applications under review for proposed gas well drilling wastewater treatment plants in Bradford, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Lycoming and Tioga counties. Proposed discharge points include the Susquehanna, Chemung and Tioga rivers as well as several streams. Visit www.depweb.state.pa.us or call 570/327-3659 for more information.