On April 17, a Penn State expert told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee-- “There’s no more research that needs to be done” to justify adopting a state ban on the road dumping of conventional oil and gas wastewater.

The remarks were made by Dr. William Burgos, a Penn State Professor of Environmental Engineering, who has done extensive research on the environmental and health risks of road dumping, including some funded by the Department of Environmental Protection.

The hearing was organized by Sen. Katie Muth (D-Chester), Chair of the Committee, and Sen. Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester), Minority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, to examine the environmental and public health impacts associated with disposing of conventional oil and gas wastewater on public roads.

Based on the independent research Penn State has done, Dr. Burgos came to this bottom line--

“Pennsylvania should ban road spreading of O&G PW [oil and gas wastewater].” Read more here.

“There is no public benefit to road spreading O&G PWs [oil and gas wastewater]…. It is all risk, no reward. The only beneficiaries are the O&G [oil and gas] operators who choose this disposal option.”  Read more here.

“The ineffectiveness and potential pollution of wastewater spreading make the practice an unsuitable alternative for dust suppression on Pennsylvania roads.”  Read more here.

Dr. Burgos noted DEP has already banned the road dumping of unconventional shale gas drilling wastewater for its environmental and health risks.

He said Penn State’s research found-- “The chemical characteristics of conventional and unconventional oil and gas-produced waters overlap considerably with respect to major constituents as well as [radioactive] radium activity. So there's not a whole lot of difference.”  Read more here.

Penn State studies found the amounts of at least 25 of the chemicals they tested for exceeded environmental and health standards and radioactive radium exceeded industrial waste discharge standards.  Read more here.

Penn State also found from 2008 to 2014, “spreading O&G PW [oil and gas wastewater] on roads released over 4 times more radium to the environment than O&G [oil and gas] wastewater treatment facilities, and 200 times more radium than spill events.” Read more here.

Dr. Burgos pointed to several other contaminants of concern.

“The contaminants of concern include chloride with respect to freshwater salinization, and also impacts on infrastructure as far as corrosivity and other sorts of things.

“So chloride for stream health and [radioactive] radium and petroleum hydrocarbons primarily for human health.

“And of course there's, unfortunately, there's lead, arsenic and a couple other trace metals that might be of concern.

“But really from a risk-based standpoint, [radioactive] radium being a known carcinogen.

“And these petroleum hydrocarbons in produced waters that have elevated petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations, which might be visible to you and I as the oily sheen, these were the ones that had that direct human receptor cell-based response with respect to potentially causing toxicity, maybe even cancer.”

He also pointed out, oil and gas wastewater destabilizes dirt and gravel roads.

“Oil and gas produced waters destabilize roads. So what we saw is that they produce a tremendous amount of dust in the dust generation experiments.

“But we also did these rainfall runoff experiments, and we measured the solids, which we can think of as a proxy for aggregate or dollars of maintenance materials with respect to putting stuff back on your gravel road.”

“And these things led to a greater loss of solids from the roads during this heavy storm event that we used to simulate this stuff, compared to rainwater being spread onto the test cell at the beginning of the experiment.

“Because of these findings, oil and gas produced waters fail to meet the EPA's [US Environmental Protection Agency’s] criteria for beneficial reuse of industrial waste.”

It’s Like Painting Your House For Free

Dr. Burgos provided an analogy for road dumping wastewater, comparing it to someone offering to paint your house for free.

“Let's say your house is the gravel road and someone comes up to you and says, ‘Hey, I'll paint your house for free.’

“And you say, ‘Well, my house could use a coat of paint. Fine.’

“And then you find out that the paint peels really quickly and it looks terrible.

“And so the person comes back and says, ‘I'll paint it again. I'll keep painting your house.’

“You're like, ‘Okay, fine. Keep painting my house.’

“And then you start to realize the siding is deteriorating. There's a hole in the clapper now, and there's all of these paint chips around the base of my house.

“They're not all there. Some of them have been worked into the soil. Some of them have been rained away and blown off.

“But I noticed that my grass looks a little yellow around there, and I don't have as many birds coming to my feeder.

“And so the analogy here is that the townships are the homeowner, and they think they're getting a deal.”

Click Here for Dr. Burgos’ written testimony + Journal Article/Research Paper authored by Dr. Burgos and others showing conventional and shale gas wastewater are very similar.

A video of the hearing is posted on Sen. Muth’s website.

Resource Links:

-- Photos Of Typical Road Dumping:  See Photos Here + See Photos Here

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

Hearing Testimony

-- Dr. William Burgos, Penn State Professor of Environmental Engineering, who has done extensive research on the environmental and health risks of road dumping.  Written Testimony + Journal Article/Research Paper Showing Conventional and Shale Gas Wastewater Very Similar

-- David Hess, Former Secretary of DEP under Governors Ridge and Schweiker.  Written Testimony.

-- Siri Lawson, Warren County resident, significantly impacted by road dumping.  Written Testimony

-- Karen Feridun, Better Path Coalition, who has done important research into waste reporting and related issues on conventional road dumping.  Written Testimony

-- The Department of Environmental Protection provided written testimony only.

Related Articles - Senate Road Dumping Hearing:

-- Senate Hearing: The Case For An Immediate, Total Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: Penn State Expert: ‘No More Research That Needs To Be Done’ To Justify A Ban On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: First-Hand Account Of Health, Environmental Impacts From Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater - ‘Inhaling Oil & Gas Wastewater 24-Hours A Day’  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: 3.5 Million Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Dumped On PA Public Roads Since DEP’s ‘Moratorium’ On Dumping Started 6 Years Ago  [PaEN]

-- Senate Hearing: DEP Still Evaluating The Data On Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater; Asks Public To Report Road Dumping  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - April 13 to 19 - Oil & Gas Well Owners Actively, Repeatedly Ignoring DEP Notices Of Violation; 12 Abandoned Wells  [PaEN]

-- Attorney General Henry Files Charges Against Shell Falcon Pipeline For Failure To Report Drilling Issues That Caused Industrial Waste, Potential for Water Pollution  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - April 20 [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 74 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In April 20 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

Related Articles This Week - Gas:

-- April 25 Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Advisory Council Meeting Features Discussion Of Dumping Wastewater On Public Roads; Well Plugging Grant Programs; Regs. Limiting Methane Pollution From Wells  [PaEN]

-- PA Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition Doubles-Down On Support For Exporting PA Natural Gas To China, Our Economic, Military Competitor  [PaEN]

-- Bloomberg: Europe’s Demand For LNG Gas Set To Peak In 2024 As Crisis Fades

-- Commonwealth Court Affirms EHB Ruling Sen. Muth Lacks Standing To Appeal A DEP Permit For Eureka Resources Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Facility [PaEN]

-- Protect PT Hosting April 30 Webinar On How Your Municipality Can Protect Itself From The Dangers Of Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Wells  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Holds May 2 Hearing On Water Use Requests, Including 7 Shale Gas Drilling Uses In Lycoming, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wyoming Counties  [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Claims That Only Thermal Energy Resources Can Ensure Electric Grid Reliability Don’t Pass The Laugh Test - By John Quigley, Kleinman Center For Energy Policy, University of Pennsylvania  [PaEN]

NewsClips - Gas:

-- Environmental Health Project: Gov. Shapiro’s Record On Shale Gas And Health - A Look At The Grand Jury Recommendations One Year In

-- The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: Attorney General Files Criminal Charges Against Shell Falcon Pipeline On Whistleblower Reports Over Pipeline Spills

-- PA Capital-Star: Democratic State Senators Want To End Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater

-- MyChesterCounty.com: PA Senators Call For Ban On Spraying Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater On Roads

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: PA Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment/Disposal Company Was Building A Conglomerate; What’s Left Is A Pile Of Waste 

-- Warren Times Editorial: Government Too Quick To Use Taxpayer Money To Plug Abandoned Conventional Wells

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Ad Crable: Power, Pipeline Corridors Becoming Wildlife Habitat

-- The Guardian: Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Leak Exposes Carbon Capture Safety Gaps In Louisiana April 3

-- The Energy Age Blog: PA Oil & Gas Well Terminology From DEP

[Posted: April 17, 2024]

4/22/2024