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ALBANY A new report from an environmental group says New York'soversight of waste disposal from existing natural gas-drillingoperations is too lax, making it virtually impossible to track howmuch waste is produced and how drillers dispose of it. The report released Friday by Environmental Advocates of New Yorkexamines Department of Environmental Conservation records relatedto 100 of the state's 6,628 active gas wells. It finds industryreporting forms provide little detail on where drilling wastewaterwas sent and whether it actually got to the intended disposal site. New York has had a moratorium on shale gas wells using horizontaldrilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, sinceit began a review of the technology in 2008. But vertical wells,using lower volume fracking, are still allowed, as they have beenfor decades. Both types of well use chemically treated water athigh pressure to crack stone and release gas into a well. Fracking produces toxic wastewater that includes chemicals used infracking as well as naturally occurring contaminants such as salts,heavy metals and radioactive particles. The amount of wasteproduced by vertical wells is a fraction of that produced byhorizontal ones. The report notes that industry reporting forms obtained through aFreedom of Information Law request were vague about wherewastewater went, with 16 drillers saying only that it was "hauledaway." In four cases, drillers said fluids may have been sent to alandfill but gave no details. Twenty-seven drillers said they woulddispose of drilling fluids by hauling them to an approved facilityand/or by road spreading for deicing or dust control. On 25 forms,drillers said they dispose of waste at "approved" facilities withno further details. The city of Auburn's municipal wastewater treatment plant, whichdischarges into the Owasco River, is currently permitted by thestate DEC to treat water produced as a by-product of verticalnatural gas wells. From July 2009 and July 2010, the city's fiscal year, city recordsshow the plant treated 16.4 million gallons of wastewater, charging$816,000 for the service. In the spring of 2011, three separate natural gas explorationcompanies were cited by Auburn's director of municipal utilitiesfor exceeding pollutant limits set under the DEC permit. In July of that year, after weeks of public debate, the citycouncil enacted a ban on the practice, only to reverse it thefollowing March after local elections installed new councilors. While numerous newly formed groups are seeking a ban on fracking,saying no amount of regulation can make it safe, EnvironmentalAdvocates has promoted effective regulation and strong oversight. DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis disputed the report and providedfigures stating that of 17.63 million gallons of gas-drillingwastewater produced in 2010 and disposed of in New York, 6.8million gallons was spread on roads; 10.5 million sent to publictreatment facilities; 0.3 million reused; and .03 million gallonswas disposed of in injection wells. DeSantis said drilling wastewater accounted for less than 8 percentof the 306 million gallons of industrial wastewater transported inNew York in 2010. All wastewater processed at public treatment plants must be testedfor chemical makeup and the plant would have to demonstrate thecapability to treat it, DeSantis said. No facilities in New Yorkare currently permitted to accept wastewater from high-volumehydraulic fracturing. In proposed regulations, DEC sets stricter requirements forwastewater from horizontal wells, with detailed record-keepingsimilar to that used for medical waste. Environmental Advocatesrecommends that even stricter rules, set for material classified ashazardous waste, be imposed for all gas wells. Legislation proposed in the state Senate and Assembly wouldclassify waste from oil and natural gas production as "hazardous,"making it subject to the cradle-to-grave tracking, handling anddisposal measures required for other hazardous wastes. The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York opposes thatlegislation, saying it would jeopardize its recycling efforts anddevelopment of new on-site treatment technologies. Disposal of fracking wastewater has been a contentious issue inPennsylvania, with drillers early on bringing millions of gallonsof the briny waste to waste treatment facilities that dump intorivers from which drinking water is taken downstream. Since lastyear, when a voluntary state moratorium was declared, records showthe Marcellus drilling industry recycles most of its waste. Becauseof a loophole, however, other well drillers are apparently stilldumping at treatment plants since levels of pollutants have notgone down. Fracking chemicals in the wastewater may include known carcinogenssuch as benzene and formaldehyde. Wastewater can contain bromides,which react with disinfecting chemicals at water treatment plantsto produce a compound linked to cancer and birth defects. In Pennsylvania in 2010, health experts raised alarms when theyfound soaring levels of bromides in rivers that are major sourcesof drinking water. Virtually all Marcellus drillers stopped usingsuch plants at the state's request. "We could do better here by just preventing such problems beforethey occur," said Katherine Nadeau of Environmental Advocates. "Thestakes are so high.". We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Voltmeters And Ammeters Manufacturer , Fuel Tank Level Gauges for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Aircraft Gyro Instruments.
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