On April 13, the Department of Environmental Protection advised 18 municipalities in four counties the road dumping of conventional oil and gas drilling wastewater is illegal and considered waste disposal.

DEP’s letters were advising the municipalities because they were locations where conventional drilling operators reported they disposed of their wastewater by indiscriminately dumping it on dirt and gravel roads.

DEP said coproduct determinations submitted by CRS Energy, LLC, DJR Well Services, Energy Resources of America, Inc., Robert Heiter, Howard Drilling, JMB Energy, JMG Energy, LLC, L&B Energy, LHS Production, McComb Oil  and Vista Resources, Inc. failed to meet the requirements in the Residual Waste Regulations and the production wastewater dumped on the roads in these townships must be considered waste and waste disposal.

“Disposal of waste without approval from DEP is unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act, Act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380, as amended, 35 P.S. Sections 6018.101-6018.1003,” the letter said.

The townships provided this information by DEP include–

— Athens Twp., Crawford County: CRS Energy, Howard Drilling

— Fairfield Twp., Crawford County: CRS Energy, JMG Energy, Vista Resources

— Greenwood Twp., Crawford County: Vista Resources

— Union Twp., Crawford County: Energy Resources Of America

— Venango Twp., Crawford County: Energy Resources of America

— Vernon Twp., Crawford County: CRS Energy, JMB Energy, Vista Resources, Energy Resources of America

— Wayne Twp., Crawford County: DJR Well Services, JMB Energy, McComb Oil

— Union Twp., Erie County: L&B Energy

— Venango Twp., Erie County: Robert Heiter

— Fairview Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy, Vista Resources

— French Creek Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy, Howard Drilling, JMG Energy

— Greene Twp., Mercer County: Vista Resources

— Lake Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy

— New Vernon Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy

— Perry Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy, Howard Drilling, McComb Oil

— Canal Twp., Venango County: Howard Drilling

— Cranberry Twp., Venango County: Howard Drilling

— Richland Twp., Venango County: CRS Energy, Howard Drilling, LHS Production

DEP said, “This letter is provided for your information and is neither an order nor any other final action of DEP.  It neither imposes nor waives any action available to the DEP under any of its statutes.”

PA Environment Digest obtained copies of the letters through a Right To Know request.

Basic Text Of DEP Letter

The text of DEP’s letter providing information to these 18 townships on the illegal practice of road dumping conventional oil and gas wastewater follows–

“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) recently completed its review of information submitted by CRS Energy, LLC, JMG Energy, LLC and Vista Resources, Inc. in support of their coproduct determinations dated April 12, 2021, December 19, 2019 and February 11, 2020, respectively, for the use of produced fluids from conventionally drilled oil and gas wells (aka “Brine”) as a dust suppressant for road application in Vernon Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.

“Additionally, the DEP has requested information on multiple occasions from Energy Resources of America, Inc. in support of their coproduct determination and to date has not received any information.

“Based on information received by DEP, your Township may have received and/or applied this Brine to roads within your Township for dust suppression.

“Please be advised that, at this time, the DEP has not concurred with the coproduct determinations of CRS Energy, LLC, Energy Resources of America, Inc., JMG Energy, LLC and Vista Resources, Inc.

“DEP has requested more information to support CRS Energy, LLC’s, Energy Resources of America, Inc’s, JMG Energy, LLC’s and Vista Resources, Inc.’s claims that their Brine is a “coproduct” as defined in 25 Pa Code Section 287.8.

“Brine that does not meet the definition of coproduct is still considered a “waste” and the application of waste on roads or land is “disposal” as those terms are defined in 25 Pa Code Section 287.1.

“Disposal of waste without approval from DEP is unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act, Act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380, as amended, 35 P.S. Sections 6018.101-6018.1003.

“Further, in accordance with 25 Pa Code Section 287.8(c), a person claiming that a material is a coproduct is required to provide documentation that supports the coproduct determination to persons selling, transferring, possessing, or using the material.

“Absent documentation that sufficiently supports the coproduct determination, persons selling, transferring, possessing, or using the material should be managing the material as a waste.

“This letter is provided for your information and is neither an order nor any other final action of DEP.  It neither imposes nor waives any action available to the DEP under any of its statutes.

“If you have any further questions about coproduct determinations, please do not hesitate to contact DEP’s Kevin Beer by telephone at 717.787.6051 or by email at kbeer@pa.gov.

“Thank you.

“Sincerely, Christina S. Wilhelm, Program Manager, Waste Management Program”

84 Townships Listed As ‘Waste Facilities’

DEP has listed a total of 84 townships as “waste facilities” where road dumping of conventional oil and gas drilling wastewater has occurred.  Read more here.

Wastewater Exceeds Health Standards

In addition to the practice of road dumping conventional oil and gas wastewater presently being illegal, a new study released by Penn State University demonstrates runoff from road dumping exceeds human health and environmental standards and does not work as a dust suppressant.

On May 26, Penn State University and the Department of Environmental Protection released a new study of spreading conventional oil and gas wastewater on unpaved roads by Penn State researchers, who found the wastewater running off the roadways after spreading contains concentrations of barium, strontium, lithium, iron, manganese that exceed human-health based criteria and levels of radioactive radium that exceed industrial discharge standards.  Read more here.