DEP, Drilling Industry Create Partnership to Explore New Wastewater Treatment Technologies

DEP, Drilling Industry Create Partnership to Explore New Wastewater Treatment
Technologies

Department Improves, Strengthens Permitting Process

HARRISBURG, Pa., Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of
Environmental Protection and the natural gas drilling industry have launched a
partnership to explore innovative methods to treat wastewater generated from
oil and gas well drilling operations in the commonwealth.

Working with the partnership, the department will develop a technology-based
standard for total dissolved solids in oil and gas wastewater, to protect
rivers and streams. The partnership met for the first time today in
Harrisburg.

"The oil and natural gas extraction process generates brine and wastewater
that can contain high concentrations of salt and total dissolved solids that
are diluted and discharged into surface waters after treatment to remove
pollutants," said Environmental Protection acting Secretary John Hanger. "The
department is committed to working along side the drilling industry to develop
new treatment technologies to treat this wastewater that will allow our
natural gas industry and our economy to thrive while protecting the health of
our rivers and streams."

Pennsylvania's streams must assimilate total dissolved solids, or TDS, from a
variety of wastewater sources besides oil and gas well drilling. The primary
sources of these pollutants are stormwater runoff and pollutant discharges
from industrial and sewage treatment plants.

Pennsylvania's rivers and streams are also burdened by uncontrolled discharges
from abandoned coal mines. Some streams already burdened with large TDS loads
could reach their limits from the additional demand created by new well
drilling activity.

The combination of fluctuating energy prices and Pennsylvania's proximity to
the major population centers of the northeast has created an oil and gas
drilling boom in the commonwealth. DEP has issued a new record 7,792 drilling
permits in 2008 with more than 4,100 wells drilled in regions throughout the
state.

The partnership was formed as a result of an increasing demand for the
treatment and disposal of brine and other wastewater generated from
traditional and Marcellus Shale drilling operations. Its goal is to limit
surface water discharges from wastewater treatment plants by encouraging the
reuse of frac water, locating geologic formations capable of safe deep
underground wastewater disposal, and evaluating new and emerging technologies
for treating the remaining wastewater. By reusing the frac water, the
industry's demand for fresh water withdrawals will decrease.

"The rivers and streams of Pennsylvania have a very limited ability to absorb
some of the additional wastewater created from the increased development of
the Marcellus Shale formation. Additional wastewater treatment facilities and
methods will be necessary to accommodate the increased volumes of wastewater
from these drilling activities," Hanger added.

The drilling industry and DEP have agreed to develop a long-term strategy for
permitting treatment facilities by identifying constituents of concern based
on sample well data. This standard will be developed with input from the
technology partnership and the public through the department's public
participation process.

The partnership is the latest process established by the department to improve
the regulatory process and reduce permit processing times. The department is
also developing a permit-by-rule for earthmoving and construction which will
reduce the permit review time from 150 days to 30 days by requiring best
management practices and the extra environmental protection measure of
vegetated buffers. To qualify for permit by rule, applicants must:

-- Provide public notice and specific notice to the municipality;
-- Satisfy local stormwater ordinances and get a letter confirming
consistency;
-- Have a certified professional engineer or professional geologist
develop
and seal the Erosion Control Plan and Post Construction Stormwater
Control Plans;
-- Include vegetated buffers for added stream protection; and
-- Utilize BMPs described and included in the BMP manual.

In addition, revisions to the department's permit review process encourage the
withdrawal of water from streams during high-flow conditions, providing added
protection to the water resources. In response to the increased demand for
staff to review permits and inspect sites, DEP has begun to hire additional
staff which will be supported by permit application fee increases which were
approved by the Environmental Quality Board in December.

For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: Oil and Gas.

CONTACT: Teresa Candori
(717) 787-1323

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

Teresa Candori of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection,
+1-717-787-1323