Comment

Comment by Carol on April 7, 2010 at 1:36pm

Marie,
A treatment plant is also opening in Westmoreland County at the site of the former American Video Glass Company.

Comment by John Reed on April 7, 2010 at 1:28pm

Daniel, do you see what I mean ? Marie is dead set against drilling period. No matter what you say she will absolutely 100% disagree. I bet she is continuing to dump cleaning sollutions down her drains at home polluting the aquifiers. She is probably burning her oil boiler or furnace on cold nights this spring, or burning coal or worse yet firewood.

Comment by John Reed on April 7, 2010 at 1:24pm

Marie, what are these facilities in Williamsport and Sunbury ?


WVSA sees profit in treating drill water
By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer


The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority is looking to join the ranks of regional sewer authorities profiting from natural gas drilling.


Read more Natural Gas Leases - Marcellus Shale articles


Following Williamsport and Sunbury, where authorities are already treating drilling wastewater, the WVSA is requesting proposals to build a closed-loop pretreatment plant on its land in Hanover Township.

The plant would accept wastewater only within certain pollution parameters, and the treated water would need to be reused for other gas drilling.

Proposals are due by March 29, and the authority hopes to have the plant built within a year, pending necessary permitting.

“I think this thing can get built in seven, eight, nine months or quicker, so again, when will it be permitted?” said John Minora, president of PA NE Aqua Resources, which is consulting on the project.

The plant would be able to treat 800 gallons a minute with a daily flow of 1 million gallons, plus storage and a filling station. The system could utilize any of several techniques that could include separation and disposal of waste in a landfill, evaporation and land application of the minerals or treatment and dilution, Minora said.

Dilution would require the same amount of water, plus about 10 percent more, he said, which would come from the plant’s treated sewage water.

Removing the solids and chemicals is easy, he said, but extracting the dissolved salts is not, which is why dilution might be the most economical option.

“Honestly, we’re open,” he said. “We’ll consider any system that does that job.”

Unlike at Williamsport or Sunbury, however, the resulting Hanover Township water won’t be sent to the existing treatment facility and would need to be purchased by gas companies for use in drilling.

“We want a system that isn’t going to discharge (into a waterway, such as the Susquehanna River), whether or not there’s a byproduct we have to dispose of in another fashion,” he said.

There is an old rail spur at the site that could be reconditioned. Rail is the preferred transportation method, he said, because it’s faster and less disturbing to the community. However, a trucking route is being considered utilizing a second entrance that passes only a few homes, he said.

That route requires the rebuilding of a washed-out bridge.

“We’ve looked at some alternatives, where really the impact on the neighborhood is minimal,” he said.

All proposals require a bid bond of 10 percent of the total bid. Minora declined to offer an estimated cost.

Comment by John Reed on April 7, 2010 at 12:52pm

There is one in Hanover Township. They treated frack water a couple of months ago. This is a very poulated area. I used to live right next to this place. In the summer the smell was terrible. They mentioned no ill effects of processing the frack waste and guess what ? Nobody got sick or died lol. I'll do some reseacrh and see if I can find the article. I read it a month or so ago. Also, I'll create a listing of facilities who can potentially handle the frack waste.

Comment by John Reed on April 7, 2010 at 10:53am

It's a good start. I like common sense. Using it is the best road.

Comment by John Reed on April 7, 2010 at 10:28am

No, you seem to show balance. I would be willing to work with you.

I would never sign a lease that allows a frac pond on my property. None of us have to. I've stated before deep well injection is being looked into. Also, waster water disposal through transportation to a treatment facility is a better option in my mind. Both of these options still pose risks but I believe less than a frac pond. Frac ponds give the gas co's the easy and most economical way out. It's all in the lease agreement.

Comment by daniel cohen on April 7, 2010 at 10:26am

Dear All,
John & I are trying to put together a broad outline for landowner groups to consider in order to protect themselves, the environment,their property values and their health. Please feel free to jump in and add/question anything & everything. The focus here is to try to accomplish a partnering with the O & G companies. We can hope for the best, but let's prepare for the worst.

Tentative Suggestions:
1) If you don't have a landowners group yet, consider forming one.
2) Regardless of the actual deal/lease you made, you may still have rights that need addressing
3) Consider having a knowledgeable attorney to represent the groups interests
4) A comprehensive water analysis ought to be a prime consideration for the group members
5) The handling of the frac water needs careful review to be certain that it is treated with intelligence and concern for the environment.
6) The storage and transportation of the frac water needs careful review to be certain that it is treated with intelligence and concern for the environment.
7) The responsibility to ensure that things are done properly is in your hands. You cannot rely on the government to look out for you.
8) A watch committee ought to be formed to keep tabs on the water quality and the extent of the aquifer. Keep in mind that pollution of the aquifer becomes everybody's concern.
9) Noise, atmospheric pollution, leakage from holding pools becomes everybody's concern
10) The Golden Rule for an economic interest is not the Golden Rule we learned as children and good neighbors. For business, Those Who Have The Gold, Make The Rule!

What do you think, have we begun to put together anything of value for us all yet, or are we still too common sense focused without anything new?
Dan

Comment by CJK on April 7, 2010 at 10:16am

John:
Am I one of the people that you are not willing to work with? I will supply you with logical and factual information. DId you see the article I posted earlier about the fire in the wastewater ponds. What is your position about these frac ponds the companies are allowed to set up? Some are setting up as many as three ponds per pad so that they can keep below the minimum acreage for when regulation steps in? You talk about the surface issues being the most problematic, what can we do about that, shouldn't the gas companies be required to stop this practice?

Comment by John Reed on April 7, 2010 at 9:56am

I am more than willing to contribute. But I will not work with a few individuals who are dedicated to scaring people. If I can contribute in any way let me know. I'll wait for your direction. Whatever we come up with needs to be logical and factual.

Comment by daniel cohen on April 7, 2010 at 9:02am

Dear John,
Very interesting stuff, and many thanks for pursuing it to the right source. Dr. Engelder was indeed kind to respond as he did. Apparently there is an academic difference of opinion between Engelder and Howarth, but we need not get bogged down with that.

Our path, yours & mine, is perhaps better spent in addressing your following comments:
"You should be having this conversation with the anti drilling people. They don't seem to be open to talking about ways to make things better. It is my opinion they are out to completely tarnish and abolish drilling period. What they write gives me no indication their motives are to the contrary. "

I can see why one might think that, but I attribute it to fear of the unknown rather than a desire to abolish something entirely. That's why we (you & I) need to shed as much light upon this as possible, and to avoid the heat that might come along with it.

You have helped considerably in bringing light to the conversation, now to address the fears/concerns that are being expressed by the anti drilling group. I believe that we are in agreement about the need to be vigilant, to protect ourselves/property/health and to try to partner up with the O & G folk to make it a win/win situation for all.

I believe we also agree that economic interests being what they are, we can't expect the O & G companies not to try to cut corners and to increase their potential profits without primary regard for the landowner. That the landowner should look out for himself just as the O & G folk are looking out for their own bottom line.

If the above is more or less where we're both at, then we need to put together the kind of protections to answer the anti drilling groups concerns. I believe that if we can do that, there will not be the opposition that currently exists.

I suspect that much of your earlier comments/posts dealing with the need to form landowner groups, have good legal representation, have many addendums to the standard lease and how to approach water issues all make for exactly the needed approach to protect us all.

If we're in agreement here, let's work on putting together a recommended list/approach for landowner groups to consider- of course it would only be a start, and a rough outline at that, but the direction would be correct don't you think?
Dan

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