At the December 16 meeting of the PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council the conventional oil and gas drilling industry pressed DEP to reduce environmental protections from drilling and regulate their industry the same as solar or wind energy facilities.  They also pushed to continue the road spreading of their drilling wastewater without environmental protection standards.

The Council members were commenting on draft conventional oil and gas drilling regulations DEP provided to the Council for review.

Arthur Stewart, Chair of the Regulatory Committee of the Council, made the point several times at the meeting that he believes oil and gas well drilling should be regulated the same way wind and solar energy facilities are, saying, after all, “We’re all energy providers.”

He pointed to testimony DEP presented to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee December 15 on solar and wind facilities.

150-Year-Old Leases Should Rule

Stewart said the conventional industry signed leases and deeds that contain site restoration provisions that should not be overruled by the requirements in Section 78.65 of the draft regulation.

“In the realm of the testimony that the DEP gave yesterday about wind and solar, I'm quoting in the DEP [testimony]-- “Bonding details regarding end-of-life restoration are considerations in the land lease between the property owner and developer.”  [Page 2 of testimony]

“So what I believe you're saying is wind and solar facilities don't have to be bonded, or an argument against bonding them is even the DEP are willing to look to the terms of the lease between the landowner and the developer.

“If that's fair in the wind and solar industry, why won't you look at the leases that we gave you here and acknowledge the terrible inconsistency between other deeded rights that have been out there in some cases 150 years, that we paid for, and the inconsistency between those deeded rights and your regulatory positions.”

Scott Perry, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Operations, pointed out the obvious-- “we've been relying basically on the statutory language that requires well sites to be restored, post-drilling and post-plugging. And this [part of the regulation] describes what that restoration expectation is.”

Stewart responded, “Nowhere does Act 13 [or 2012] say we're going to tell your DEP to use your discretion to do things which are inconsistent with current practice of how surface owners and sub-surface owners interpret their rights.”

In other words, Stewart believes 150-year-old lease agreements should supersede modern laws enacted by the General Assembly to protect the environment [however weak] and that lease owners and property owners are the only ones who should define these practices.

Local Govts. Should Regulate Drilling

Stewart said local governments should be the ones regulating conventional oil and gas drilling to be consistent with wind and solar facilities and DEP’s testimony.

“The DEP testified on wind and solar projects, and in particular was testifying about legislation that would require specific decommissioning requirements at a state level,” said Stewart.  “And the DEP came forward and said state level decommissioning isn't required because there's already local ordinances, local government level regulation of this, or that it's regulated in the leases to the companies.

“So, it's a bit like having it one way for one group and a different way for another group,” said Stewart. “We want to be treated no better, no worse, than your view on wind and solar. We just want to be treated the same.

“So, if you're willing to rely on local ordinances for regulation of wind and solar, what's the need to expand the definition of oil and gas operations [in the draft regulations]?”

Scott Perry, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Operations, pointed out the obvious-- again-- that there is a state law requiring DEP to regulate oil and gas wells.

The other obvious point is wind and solar energy farms don’t release methane into the atmosphere, serve as a conduit for contaminating ground and surface water and don’t produce millions of gallons of wastewater that need to be disposed of every year.

What Stewart also didn’t mention was DEP’s testimony also pointed to the fact conventional oil and gas wells drilled before 1985 are not required by law to have any bond to cover plugging and the bonding required for other wells is totally inadequate.  [Read more here.

In addition, the conventional oil and gas industry abandoned tens of thousands of oil and gas wells to taxpayers to have them pay for plugging in the early 1980s.

Impacts On Schools, Endangered Species, Public Lands Should Not Be Included

Stewart questioned why operators needed to look at the impact of wells on species of special concern, threatened or endangered species, playgrounds and school property, public resource lands owned by DCNR and other agencies in the draft regulations, noting the Commonwealth Court has ruled DEP could not enforce these requirements.

Elizabeth Davis, counsel to the Oil and Gas Program, had to point out these issues were still in litigation and the PA Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the matter.

Objecting To Annual Waste Disposal Reporting

Stewart also specifically objected to new language in Section 78.121 of the draft regulation that required conventional operators to report annually on where waste and wastewater goes for disposal, treatment or recycling identifying "the specific facility or well site where the waste was managed."

“Do you mean to change the current practice, or are you simply trying to codify the existing practice?” said Stewart.  “Because this would seem to suggest that we would have to tie waste reports to the specific facility, which as we said in our comments, wow, that would be an extreme change to our production, reuse and disposal reporting in a way that your forms wouldn't even accommodate.”

“Remember, we're taking water, in many instances, and using it, reusing it, recycling it, on hydrofracture or plugging jobs,” said Stewart.  “You can't possibly mean that we should be saying, ‘This amount from this tank went there, and then this amount from that tank went there,’ because it's coming from many, many sources to be consolidated in the plugging or fracking job.”

As noted in a recent report by the Better Path Coalition, DEP’s Oil & Gas Waste reporting database contains a variety of significant reporting mistakes with the existing, simple requirements and they recommended the independent state Auditor General do an audit of the reports to help identify those issues, but he declined.  [Read more here]

DEP does not require “cradle to grave” documentation to track where waste is being generated to where it is disposed for conventional or unconventional (shale gas) drilling, although it has been suggested many times.

According to DEP data, conventional oil and gas well operators generated over 93.4 million gallons of wastewater in 2017; which is no small amount.  DEP’s reporting requirement is geared to learning where it all went, at least in general terms.

There were many other topics covered, but the Council’s Regulatory Committee, chaired by Stewart, will be scheduling a meeting in February to work on more detailed comments to DEP’s draft regulations.

DEP is also in the process of drafting a companion package of regulation changes setting environmental performance standards for conventional oil and gas drilling surface and subsurface activities.

Cookie Cutter Coproduct Determinations

At the same December 16 meeting, Council member Burt Waite, who chairs the Council’s Produced Water Committee, reported DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management issued letters to conventional operators and residual waste haulers saying they have not met the Coproduct Determination requirements in 25 Pa Code Section 287.8 -- which is the only legal way operators are allowed to road spread their wastewater. [Read more here.]

“These requirements are significant. They're likely beyond the capability of many of the smaller operators. It is a concern for them,” said Waite.

“It's the [Produced Water] committee's intent to meet with [DEP’s Bureau of] Waste Management this winter, to explore the possibility of developing a standardized approach to these issues. And perhaps generate Coproduct determination plans that could be used by multiple operators within a limited geographic area,” said Waite.

The Coproduct requirements in 25 Pa Code Section 287.8 apply to all waste generators, not just conventional oil and gas, so every waste generator is treated the same.

It is difficult to see how a “cookie cutter” approach could be used in this instance given the specific chemical and other testing and specific evaluations the regulations require.

They include--

1. Evaluation of the chemical composition of the material; and

2. Evaluation of the threat of harm to the environment; and

3. Evaluation of the threat to public health; and

4. An evaluation to determine which, if any, hazardous or toxic constituents are present in the proposed coproduct at levels exceeding those found in the material it is replacing; and

5. An evaluation of the total levels of hazardous or toxic constituents to determine whether the total levels of constituents contained in the proposed coproduct exceed the total levels found in the intentionally manufactured product; and

6. An evaluation of the levels of leaching of hazardous or toxic constituents; and

7. An evaluation of the routes of exposure to humans and ecological receptors shall be identified. These routes of exposure shall include ingestion, inhalation, dermal contact, leaching to the groundwater, plant uptake and surface runoff potential.

There are other issues to contend with, including inconsistent wastewater produced by hundreds and thousands of wells that could be potentially involved, what chemicals to test for and many other factors.  [Read more here.]

But the bottomline is the conventional oil and gas operators are still pushing hard to dispose of their wastewater through road spreading which is not covered by any environmental standards, guidelines, setbacks, public participation or notice requirements or pre-approvals before road spreading of the wastewater takes place despite the growing public outcry against this disposal method.

DEP officially lists 84 townships as “Waste Facilities” where conventional oil and gas wastewater has been disposed of by road spreading.  [Read more here.]

Report Illegal Road Spreading

As noted, DEP recently determined conventional oil and gas companies and liquid waste haulers are not complying with Residual Waste regulations in road spreading their production wastewater and advised them to stop spreading.  [Read more here]

Townships have been advised to do their due diligence on any company offering to spread drilling wastewater on their dirt and gravel roads to make sure they comply with DEP’s Residual Waste regulations.  [Read more here]

If road spreading of conventional oil and gas wastewater is happening on dirt and gravel roads there’s a very good chance it is being done illegally and should be reported to DEP immediately by calling 1-800-541-2050 or Click Here to submit a complaint.  [Read more here.]

Health, Environmental Hazards of Road Spreading

Since August of last year, Penn State and others have added to a growing body of research results documenting the potential harms to public health and the environment from road spreading oil and gas drilling wastewater.   [Read more science here.  Read more science here.]

Spreading Wastewater Tears Apart Dirt Roads

The Penn State Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies has advised townships for years that road spreading oil and gas wastewater is not only an “environmentally unsound practice,” it can cause water pollution and damage roads.  [Read more here]

“Yea, it does suppress dust, but so would plain water for a while without all the potential side effects,” said Steve Bloser, Executive Director of the Center.  [Read more here]

Eric Chase from the Center added, “Any liquid you put on the roads is going to suppress dust for a little while, right?  But, the fact of the matter is the high sodium brines are just not very effective.”  [Read more here]

The harm caused by the disposal of oil and gas wastewater on dirt and gravel roads has been documented by a number of experts and by first-hand observations in Pennsylvania.  [Read more here]

Next Meeting Of Committee/Council

There will be a meeting of the PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council Regulatory Committee to be announced for February to work on comments to DEP’s draft regulation, and if needed another in March. 

The Regulatory Committee meeting will be sunshined by DCED which provides staff support to the Council

The next formal meeting of the Council will be on April 21 in State College starting at 10:00 a.m.

For more information, visit the DCED PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council webpage. Questions should be directed to Adam Walters, adwalters@pa.gov or call 717-214-6548.

NewsClip:

--  The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: Despite Moratorium, 2 Million Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Waste Spread On PA Roads Since 2018

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Draft Rule Does Not Ban Road Spreading Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater; Industry Objects To Waste Reporting Provisions

-- Sign Better Path Coalition Petition: DEP - Keep ALL Oil & Gas Wastewater Off Our Roads!

-- Better Path Coalition Presents Jan. 12 Webinar On Road Spreading Drilling Wastewater, Why Hasn't It Stopped?

-- Environmental Health Project: Feb. 22 Shale Gas & Public Health: Translating Science Into Policy Public Health Summit

Road Spreading Archive:

-- PA Environment Digest: All Road Spreading Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Articles

Related Articles:

-- Millions Of Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Spread Illegally On Dirt Roads, Companies Fail To Comply With DEP Waste Regulations

-- DEP Lists 84 Townships As ‘Waste Facilities’ Where Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Has Been Disposed Of By Road Spreading; Municipalities Need To Do Their Due Diligence

-- The Science Says: Spreading Conventional Drilling Wastewater On Dirt & Gravel Roads Can Harm Aquatic Life, Poses Health Risks To Humans - And It Damages The Roads

-- Preliminary Results From New Penn State Study Find Increased Cancer, Health Risks From Road Dumping Conventional Drilling Wastewater, Especially For Children

-- Penn State Center For Dirt & Gravel Road Studies: Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Wastewater To Control Dust Is Environmentally Unsound Practice

-- 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

[Posted: January 3, 2022]

1/10/2022