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Better Path Coalition: 65 Organizations, Businesses, 2,700+ Individuals Petition Gov.-Elect Shapiro To Ban Road Dumping Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater

On December 12, the Better Path Coalition delivered signatures from 65 organizations, institutions, and businesses, and more than 2,700 individuals on a letter and petition calling on Governor-Elect Shapiro to ban road spreading of conventional drilling waste.

The delivery comes with the release of the Coalition’s update of its Moratorium Morass report on the anniversary of its release.

Documents obtained through a Right-to-Know request submitted to the Bureau of Waste Management raise new concerns that road spreading of toxic, radioactive drilling waste may have gone unreported in the four years since the Department of Environmental Protection put a moratorium on the disposal method.

In 2021, conventional oil and gas operators reported disposing of 977,671 gallons of their wastewater by road dumping. Read more here.

Operators reported road dumping a total of 3,259,405 gallons of their wastewater from 2018 through 2021.

Oil & Gas Waste reports include entries on road spreading from 37 companies since 2018. However, in the three years before the moratorium, 114 companies reported road spreading.

“Pennfield has obtained a Co-Product status instead of Waste with our brine. What this means is you don’t have to report spreading and it can be spread all year round. I know this is hard to believe because D.E.P. doesn’t make anything easy, but it’s true…,” the company told townships that were potential customers in a 2020 letter included in the RTK response.

The coproduct status Pennfield mentions refers to a program managed by BWM that allows owners of a waste product to make a determination that their waste can be used in place of a commercial product that performs the same function as long as the waste is no more dangerous to health and the environment than the commercial product is.

Conventional drillers took advantage of the Coproduct Determination loophole so they could continue road spreading after the DEP’s moratorium went into effect.

The number of companies that believed as Pennfield did that reporting was not required under the Coproduct Determination program is unknown and must be investigated.

“The DEP had no idea how much waste the industry was generating before the moratorium because of their deeply flawed reporting system. Now, thanks to the use of the Coproduct Determination loophole, the DEP has even less of an idea. Road spreading of unconventional waste was banned in 2016. It’s time for the ban to be extended to conventional waste too. Governor-Elect Shapiro must make it a top priority to bring this dangerously mismanaged practice to an end,” said Karen Feridun, Co-founder of the Better Path Coalition and the report’s author.

Click Here for the updated report on road dumping conventional wastewater.

Health/Environmental Impacts

Multiple studies over the last 10 years have documented the negative health and environmental impacts from road dumping conventional drilling wastewater.

In September, DEP said publicly, again, the road dumping of conventional wastewater does not meet the requirements of residual waste regulations and as a result is illegal. Read more here.

DEP has, in-fact, designated 84 townships where road dumping has occurred as “waste facilities.” Read more here.

The conventional oil and gas industry reported in April, the state Attorney General’s Office is investigating the illegal disposal of conventional wastewater. Read more here.

DEP banned road dumping of wastewater from unconventional shale gas drillers in 2016 which is chemically very similar to the wastewater produced by conventional operations.

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.

The study also found the wastewater is only about as effective as rainwater at controlling dust, but worse for the environment.

“The ineffectiveness and potential pollution of wastewater spreading make the practice an unsuitable alternative for dust suppression on Pennsylvania roads, the team reported to the DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas Management.” Read more here.

Sign The Petition

The Better Path Coalition is encouraging individuals and groups to sign a petition urging Governor-Elect Josh Shapiro to make banning the road spreading of conventional drilling wastewater a priority in his incoming Administration.

“One of your first acts when you take office must be a ban on road spreading of ALL drilling waste.”

Click Here to sign petition. Click Here to sign a letter to Governor-Elect Shapiro.

DEP Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Dec. 10 to 16 [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 69 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In The Dec. 17 PA Bulletin [PaEN]

Related Articles - Road Dumping:

-- Attorney General’s Office Reported To Be Investigating Conventional Oil & Gas Operators For Illegally Road Dumping Drilling Wastewater [PaEN]

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

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

-- Conventional Oil & Gas Drillers Reported Spreading 977,671 Gallons Of Untreated Drilling Wastewater On PA Roads In 2021 [PaEN]

-- 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 [PaEN]