The following testimony was submitted to the House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee for an October 5 hearing on Road Spreading Contaminated Water From Conventional Oil & Gas Wells. Read more here.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony on the extraction and disposal of oil and gas wastewater, or “brine,” a known hazard to human health and the environment.
Protect PT is a grassroots nonprofit dedicated to protecting the economic, environmental, and legal rights of residents in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties from the effects of fossil fuel activity.
We represent over 200 organizational members who are concerned about this issue.
Protect PT has previously written in support of House Bill 84, which this Committee passed earlier this year and would prohibit the dangerous practice of spreading oil and gas wastewater on our roads.
Due to the risks, and the ineffective de-icing and dust suppressing properties of this waste, we urge the Pennsylvania legislature to pass House Bill 84 into law, and we urge PA DEP to cease permitting mineral brine wells.
For too long, the oil and gas industry has used our communities as a cheap and easy dumping ground for its waste.
This surface disposal method would be unthinkable for most other industries.
Although oil and gas waste enjoys a regulatory classification of “residual waste,” its makeup is anything but benign.
This wastewater contains heavy metals, chloride, hydrocarbons, radioactive elements like radium and uranium, and toxic chemicals, all of which, once dumped, can indiscriminately enter our soil and water supply, degrade our resources, and threaten human health.
Radium is well known to cause cancer, particularly cancers of the bone, lung, breast, and liver, as well as blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. It accumulates in our environment and persists for thousands of years.
The practice of road spreading forces people to unwittingly come into contact with this hazardous material.
Once waste is spread on roads, people may get it on their car’s tires and track it onto their properties, where children and pets play.
Waste residue on driveways and in garages can transfer to shoes and be carried into homes and create a pathway of exposure.
The vast majority of road spreading takes place within the shale fields of southwestern and northeastern PA, putting the communities Protect PT serves at direct risk.
The workers who carry out the task of road spreading are also exposed.
The nonhazardous regulatory designation of oil and gas waste often leads to a lack of proper handling procedures and personal protective equipment (PPE).
We have heard from whistleblowers that workers are often not told what the waste contains and what the true risks of exposure are.
Furthermore, oil and gas wastewater has been studied and found to be ineffective at both de-icing and dust suppression.
In 2022, researchers at Penn State University found that it is no more effective at dust control than rainwater.
In fact, the high sodium content in the wastewater can actually degrade and destabilize dirt and gravel roads, causing accelerated erosion and leading to more dust over time.
Currently, our Commonwealth prohibits the practice of spreading waste from unconventional wells on roads, but a loophole in the Bureau of Waste Management’s Coproduct Program allows the industry to get away with dumping conventional well waste, even though it is chemically very similar to fracking waste.
This loophole must be closed. It is allowing toxic substances to pollute the environment on which Pennsylvanians rely, and to which we are entitled under Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
PA DEP approvals to spread brine under the Coproduct Program only require limited, infrequent, and self-reported chemical assessment of the produced water.
The coproduct determination reports submitted by conventional spreaders have never met the regulatory requirements of the program.
DEP would never have even known the conventional well owners were using the coproduct process had it not been for the Oil and Gas Program requiring well owners to report how much waste they generate and where they dispose of it, and even this data is not complete.
In 2023, 86% of conventional well owners failed to file annual waste generation reports, which means DEP has no idea how much waste those wells generated and where it was disposed of.
Doubtless, some of this unaccountated-for waste wound up illegally dumped on roads in rural counties of our state.
This widespread noncompliance demonstrates that a regulatory moratorium is not enough, and that law must be passed to set the firm and final word on the practice of road spreading.
Explicitly banning road-spreading will provide regulatory certainty and prevent the ongoing abuse of the Coproduct Program.
Dumping radioactive waste on roads is clearly bad practice, and it’s bad for Pennsylvanians.
Considering this, the PA DEP’s recent permitting of Danylko 6, a “brine well” in Erie County operated by BCD Properties, PA is a concerning development that may create a new pathway for producing and distributing hazardous substances.
This highly unusual permit treats brine as the product from the well, while any oil and gas from the well must be treated as solid waste.
The permit does not appear to require chemical or radiological testing of the brine before it is sold, distributed, or applied to roads or land. Initiating the commercial sale of a substance known to contain many contaminants, all while labeled with the innocuous name of “mineral brine,” is a step that Protect PT finds deeply troubling.
This action by DEP must be more fully assessed.
In closing, the science is clear. Road spreading is an ineffective and outdated practice that poses known environmental and public health risks.
Pennsylvania’s legislature must act to ban it for good. Thank you for your consideration of this important issue.
Click Here for Protect PT’s testimony.
Other Testimony/Written Comments
Testimony on this issue was presented by--
-- Seth Pelepko, DEP Deputy for Oil & Gas, Ali Tarquino Morris, DEP Deputy For Waste, Air, Remediation, Radiation
-- Dr. William Burgos, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Penn State University
-- Eric Chase, Assistant Director, Penn State Center for Dirt & Gravel Road Studies
-- Shannon Smith, Executive Director, FracTracker Alliance
-- David E. Hess, Former Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection
-- Holly Fishel, PA Association of Township Supervisors
Written comments were submitted by
-- Siri Lawson, Resident, Warren County
-- Lauren Posey, Protect PT
-- Steven Hvozdovich, Clean Water Action
-- Patrick Henderson, Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition
-- Stephanie Catarino Wissman, American Petroleum Institute - PA
Click Here to watch a video of the hearing.
Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Majority Chair of the House Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net. Rep. Jack Rader, Jr. (R-Monroe) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7732 or click here to send an email.
Related Articles This Week:
-- House Hearing I: DEP To Allow The Use Of Contaminated Water From New 'Mineral Brine' Conventional Wells On Roads, While Prohibiting Contaminated Water With The Same Harmful Pollutants On Roads From Other Conventional Oil & Gas Wells [PaEN]
-- House Hearing II: Road Dumping Contaminated Water From Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Creates An Aerosol Mist Carrying Pollution Through The Air And Into My Lungs - By Siri Lawson, Warren County Resident [PaEN]
-- House Hearing III: Protect PT: For Too Long The Oil & Gas Industry Has Used Our Southwest PA Communities As Dumping Grounds For Their Waste - Road Dumping Contaminated Water From Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Must Be Banned [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- Spotlight PA: Barbara Laxon: A Retiree’s Quest To Help Track Down PA’s Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells
-- TribLive: Allegheny County Board Of Health Votes To Review Air Pollution Permit Exemptions For Shale Gas Operations
[Posted: October 7, 2026] PA Environment Digest
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