Marcellus shale & drill cuttings are radioactive

From an Article by the Associated Press, WV Public Broadcasting, December 19, 2017

Environmentalists have reached an agreement with Antero Treatment that calls for monitoring for radioactivity and bromide around its landfill in northern West Virginia that takes the waste from recycled groundwater used in hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

It settles an appeal by the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy of the state permit for the landfill, which takes salt byproducts from Antero’s adjacent wastewater recycling facility. Both are located on 447 acres in Ritchie and Doddridge counties.

The environmental groups say the permit allows discharging stormwater runoff and associated pollutants into tributaries of the Hughes River upstream within 5 miles of Harrisville’s public water system intake.

“This is one example of how the state is tasked with evaluating new sources of pollution brought about by the fracking boom,” said Angie Rosser, executive director of West Virginia Rivers Coalition. “We need to find out sooner rather than later if we’re seeing harmful things, like radioactivity, affecting our water supplies.”

The groups say the compound bromide is known to cause problems for treating drinking water.

According to Denver-based parent company Antero Resources Corp., about 95 percent of the water it uses for fracking will be treated at the recycling facility, nearly eliminating the need for wastewater disposal wells and reducing withdrawals from West Virginia’s waterways. Salt will constitute about 92 percent of all solid byproducts, it said.

The company (Antero) drills for natural gas in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The agreement signed December 8th requires one initial year of monitoring for radioactivity in materials entering the landfill and in groundwater monthly, as well as regular monitoring for bromide and solids in surface water discharges.

That includes a monthly lab analysis of salt samples from a truck that passed through the landfill’s radiation detection equipment. If two or more lab samples significantly deviate from the detection equipment measurements, Antero will conduct an additional year of sampling.

If any monthly groundwater sampling for radium is significantly higher than background levels, the agreement says Antero will conduct another year of that sampling.

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Environmental Working Group Prepares Report on Radioactivity in Public Drinking Water in the United States

Some 170 Million in U.S. Drink Radioactive Tap Water. Trump Nominee Faked Data to Hide Cancer Risk.

From an Article by Bill Walker and Wicitra Mahotama, Environmental Working Group, January 11, 2018

Tap water used by 170 million Americans in all 50 states contains some level of radiation that may increase the risk of cancer at least marginally, according to the new report from the Environmental Working Group analyzing state data from 2010 to 2015. Only a small percentage of water systems serving a total of 276,000 people in 27 states reported radiation levels exceeding federal limits, but environmentalists warn those limits are already too high and should be updated to improve water quality.

Radiation in drinking water comes from naturally occurring elements in the Earth’s crust and may be higher in areas disturbed by mining or oil and gas extraction, according to the report. The most common sources of radiation are radium-226 and radium-228, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires utilities to test for these elements to make sure radiation in tap water does not exceed the federal limit.

Our Landfills are Filling with Drill Cuttings

WV-DEP Holds Final Hearing on Drilling Waste Disposal

From an Article by Michael Erb, Wheeling Intelligencer, July 31, 2014

CHARLESTON – A handful of passionate opponents spoke out Wednesday against proposed rule revisions for the disposal of waste material from drilling sites. The comments came during a public hearing at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in Charleston.

Members of the Wetzel County Solid Waste Authority, as well as a representative of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, urged officials to reconsider the rules, which opponents say do not protect waterways and the public from toxic and radioactive materials which leach into drinking water.

According to the WV-DEP, the proposed rule revision establishes protocols for the proper handling, management and disposal of drill cuttings and associated drilling mud generated in the exploration and production of oil and gas from the horizontal drilling process. It also requires radiation and leachate monitoring at all facilities receiving drill cuttings and associated drilling mud.

Bill Hughes, a resident of New Martinsville and chairman of the Wetzel County Solid Waste Authority, said the authority hired two companies to draft reports on possible air and water issues stemming from the placement of drill waste in state landfills. Both reports, he said, ultimately stated there was a likely risk to health and too many unknown factors, such as the level of chemical and radiation exposure.

“We’re doing things that are really unexamined, unexplored,” Hughes said. “This is uncharted territory. We are literally guessing in the dark and we’re hoping it’s not glowing in the dark.”

Hughes said the WV-DEP is too slow to regulate these kinds of issues, often waiting until years after companies have established a broad environmental footprint in an area before beginning to address concerns.

Hughes said since 2011 the state has allowed hundreds of thousands – perhaps millions – of tons of toxic and radioactive materials to be dumped in state landfills with little oversight or thought of long-term consequences. “It’s the long view that motivates me,” Hughes said. “What is the state going to be like for our children and grandchildren?”

Angie Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, echoed those concerns. “These practices are in essence an experiment and the rivers and people of West Virginia are the subjects of this experiment,” she said. “We cannot cut corners when it comes to protecting our waters and our health. This problem will not go away. I’m very concerned about our state’s handling of this issue.”

Tom Aluise, spokesman for the WV-DEP, facilitated Wednesday’s hearing. “We’ll take all the comments into consideration and submit our agency-approved rule to the Legislature for consideration for the next session,” he said, adding the public has been submitting written comments for 30 days, with the period ending Wednesday.

Aluise said a temporary rule is in place governing how the materials from horizontal well development must be stored and tested for radiation. Only a handful of landfills in West Virginia are allowed to accept the materials, nearly all of which comes as a byproduct of horizontal drilling in the Marcellus shale.

The proposed Solid Waste Management Rule 33CSR1, once approved by the Legislature next spring, would replace the emergency rule that went into effect July 10. “The emergency rule is the exact same thing as the rules we are discussing here tonight. It was put into place to make these guidelines effective immediately,” Aluise said. “You need to have a permanent rule in place once the temporary rule expires.”

Aluise said all public comments will be included in a report along with the agency’s final recommendation.

The full proposal can be viewed on the WV-DEP’s website here.

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