Spring Road Dumping Season Underway As Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Get Rid Of Their Wastewater

The Spring road dumping season is underway in Northcentral and Northwest Pennsylvania as conventional oil and gas operators get rid of their wastewater on the region’s dirt and hard roads.

            They say a picture is worth 1,000 words and here is a photo of fresh road dumping on Follet Run Road in Warren County on March 12, 2024.

            The weather was clear and the temperature was 41 degrees.

            That’s a hard road, not a dirt road, so there is no other motive except to dump the wastewater.

The road dumping was reported to DEP’s regional office.

            Citizens in the region are reporting roads are getting “hammered” this Spring with conventional wastewater.   But it also continued unabated during the Winter, Fall, Summer and last Spring.

           

Road Dumping Illegal

            Road dumping of conventional oil and gas wastewater is illegal, but it continues as if wasn’t. 

Penn State researchers, and others 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.

In fact, 25 out of the 31 chemicals and pollutants found in the wastewater exceeded, and in many instances far exceeded, established health or environmental standards, including radioactive radium.  Read more here.

The same earlier Penn State study also found conventional oil and gas wastewater was

no more effective than plain water in suppressing dust on roads.  Read more here.

Report Violations

To report oil and gas violations or any environmental emergency or complaint, visit DEP’s Environmental Complaint webpage.

Related Articles - Road Dumping:

-- Penn State: Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Fails To Meet Beneficial Reuse Recommendations For Use As A Dust Suppressant  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Tells Citizens Advisory Council Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Still Does Not Meet Residual Waste Regulations; Remains Illegal   [PaEN] 

-- New Penn State Study: Brine Water Pumped From Played-Out Conventional Oil & Gas Wells And Used As Dust Suppressants, Winter Road Treatments Exceed Environmental, Health Standards, Just Like Conventional Oil & Gas Brine Water   [PaEN]

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Reports The Number Of Methane Contaminated Water Supplies From Oil & Gas Drilling Is Up ‘Across The Board,’ ‘Not A Good Trend’  [PaEN] 

-- DEP: Shale Gas Drilling Resulted In 54 Incidents Of New Wells Interfering With Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells, Water Wells Or Other Shale Gas Wells   [PaEN]

-- DEP Pursuing Federal Funding To Further Define Human Health Impacts Of Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells  [PaEN]

-- Spring Road Dumping Season Underway As Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Get Rid Of Their Wastewater   [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 8 Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawals, Adopts New General Permit For Cooperative Fish Nurseries  [PaEN]

[Posted: March 19, 2024]  PA Environment Digest