PA Environment Digest Blog: House Committee Reports Out Bills To Ban Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater; Prohibit Use Of PFAS 'Forever Chemicals’ In Consumer Products

On June 11, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out legislation that would ban the road dumping of conventional oil and gas wastewater and prohibit the use of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ in consumer products.

Republicans opposed the bills, Democrats supported.

The bills, which now go to the full House, include--

-- House Bill 2384 (Vitali-D-Delaware) banning road dumping oil and gas wastewater; and

-- House Bill 2238 (Scott-D-Montgomery) banning certain common consumer products from containing PFAS ‘forever chemicals.’

Ban On Road Dumping

During the discussion of House Bill 2384 and the road dumping issue, Rep. Martin Causer (R-Cameron), Minority Chair of the Committee, expressed concerns about members in one part of Pennsylvania imposing restrictions on actions that happen primarily in another part.

During the road dumping hearing held by the Committee on June 10, Rep. Causer said he viewed this legislation as an “attack on rural Pennsylvania.”

“As I said in the hearing yesterday, dust suppression is important to protect people's health,” said Rep. Causer.

“And it's very concerning to me when legislators from one part of the state try to enact legislation that significantly impacts another part of the state.

“This is an issue that significantly impacts the northwestern part of Pennsylvania, and quite honestly, the western part of the state. Because we have a majority of the dirt and gravel roads.

“We are the ones that have been using this product for years to control dust on these roads, to assist people with dust suppression.

“And to have legislators lecture us continually on the environmental rights amendment and the fact that people have a right to clean air and clean water.

“This is providing clean air for folks in Northwestern Pennsylvania. And quite honestly, legislators from Southeastern Pennsylvania want to ban it.”

[Note: Road dumping oil and gas wastewater is illegal under the Oil & Gas Regulations, but it could possibly be approved under the "coproduct" Residual Waste Regulations. House Bill 2384 would ban it entirely.]

Rep. Greg Vitali (R-Delaware), Majority Chair of the Committee responded by saying-- “This bill and this issue has been brought up by people in your area, in the gas patch who have been sickened by this.

“Siri Lawson, for example, who had to sue to attempt to stop this. It was sickening her and her case led to the defacto moratorium on this.

“So it's not just legislators from Southeast PA trying to dictate to people in the gas patch, it's people in the gas patch who are speaking out vociferously against their air and water being polluted.

“And I also will mention that the testimony yesterday reflected the fact that this was an ineffectual dust suppressant performing, as I recall, no better than water.

“This is just waste, waste, industrial waste just being dumped on roadways”

Rep. Abigail Salisbury (D-Allegheny) also commented saying-- “Although I live in a more urban area now, I did grow up in a rural area and I drove a horse and carriage down dirt roads when I was growing up.

“I’m from an area where they have many Amish people. I have lived in different parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, some of which do use brine [oil and gas wastewater] on their dirt roads.

“And I’ll tell you that as I go down a dirt road, dirt roads are inherently going to have dirt, because they are made of dirt.

“And so if you have motorcycle tires, bicycle tires, horse hooves, buggy wheels-- in the case of our Amish-- or horse-loving constituents-- it’s going to kick up dirt.

“I’d rather have ‘regular dirt’ than dirt that’s covered in wastewater, this industrial waste that’s been coated on top of it.

“So I’m going to have to vote for ‘regular dirt’ in my lungs if I’m going to have dirt rather than wastewater covered dirt.

“As somebody who’s spent a substantial period of their childhood on dirt roads I do feel that I’m qualified to speak on the kind of dirt that I would like to be inhaling if we’re not going to pave these areas.

“If we want to help some of these areas we should allot some money for paving so we don’t have to have dirt roads.”

Rep. Causer proposed an amendment to gut the bill and legalize road dumping which was defeated on a party line vote-- Republicans supporting.

Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net. Rep. Martin Causer (R-Cameron) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-5075 or by sending email to: mcauser@pahousegop.com.

Hearing Key Takeaways On Road Dumping

Here are a few of the key takeaways from the Committee’s June 10 hearing on road dumping--

-- Water Is Just As Effective: The Penn State Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies said studies show plain water is just as effective as oil and gas wastewater at dust suppression, without the negative environmental and health side effects. What’s cheaper than water?

-- Dirt Road Construction/Maintenance Critical: Putting liquids on roads that dry out in a few hours will not solve the dust problem or do anything to protect residents. Using proper road construction and maintenance techniques and the right materials will go a long way to significantly reduce dust and improve the traveling surface.

The Penn State Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies has worked on these issues for decades and pioneered the use of techniques and materials that work effectively. Call them, they can help!

-- Wastewater Dumping Has Moved To Paved Roads: Local citizens report oil and gas wastewater dumping has moved from dirt and gravel roads to paved roads because it’s faster to dump their loads with less evidence they are doing this illegal practice. With this move, the justification for legalizing this disposal method for dust suppression has also evaporated. It is simply disposal.

-- Wastewater Dumpers Wait For Rain: Local citizens report wastewater dumpers typically wait until there is rain in the forecast to start dumping to help hide their tracks. As a result, the pretense the dumpers pay any attention to any guidelines for dumping wastewater also disappears. It is simply disposal.

-- Filled With Harmful Contaminants: For nearly 30 years, studies have all shown the same thing-- oil and gas wastewater contains many harmful contaminants that exceed health and environmental standards. Penn State research found 25 contaminants in conventional wastewater exceeded health and environmental standards.

-- Conventional Wastewater Fails Product Testing: The Penn State Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies reported conventional oil and gas wastewater fails to meet its environmental testing standards, including for sodium, chloride and radioactive radium. Radioactive radium levels varied from 84 to 2,500 pCi/L, far above the 15 pCi/L standard.

-- Little Difference Between Conventional And Shale Gas Wastewater: Penn State reported there is very little difference between conventional and unconventional oil and gas wastewater, except the road dumping of unconventional shale gas wastewater was banned by DEP in 2016 regulations.

Summaries Of Testimony

Here are detailed summaries of testimony presented at the Committee’s June 10 hearing on road dumping conventional oil and gas wastewater--

-- House Hearing: Shapiro Administration Supports Bill Banning Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater, Prohibiting Its Use As Coproduct Under Residual Waste Regulations [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Penn State Expert Says ‘Pennsylvania Should Ban Road Spreading Of Oil & Gas Wastewater;’ Contaminants Exceed Health, Environmental Standards [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Penn State Center For Dirt & Gravel Road Studies Says Road Spreading Oil & Gas Wastewater Is Not An Effective Dust Suppressant, Does Not Meet Environmental Testing Standards [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: A First-Hand Account Of How Repeated, Unlimited Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater Is Tearing Apart Dirt Roads And Creating Multiple Environmental Hazards [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Protect PT - Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater ‘Is Disproportionately Responsible For Negative Impacts On Human Health,’ Especially From Radioactive Radium [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: On Road Dumping Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘We Studied This For Nearly 30 Years And The Conclusions Are The Same - The Wastewater Contains Harmful Contaminants’ [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: PA State Assn. Of Township Supervisors Opposes Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Saying It’s Only Affordable Option For Dust Suppression [Plain Water Works Just As Well] [PaEN]

-- House Hearing: Conventional Oil & Gas Industry Trade Groups Oppose Bill Banning The Road Dumping Their Wastewater Saying It’s ‘Effective And Safe’ [PaEN]

Video Of Hearing

Click Here to watch a video of the hearing.