Natural-gas drilling companies began recycling wastewater from hydraulic fracturing operations after facing mounting criticism as the process became more prevalent over the last decade, but recycling hasn't alleviated many of the industry's problems. The "win-win" that drilling companies say results from waste water recycling "comes with significant asterisks," Ian Urbina of The New York Times reports as part of a series about fracking. "In Pennsylvania, for example, natural-gas companies recycled less than half of the wastewater they produced during the 18 months that ended in December, according to state records."
Even recycled water may not eliminate all the environmental risks associated with fracking, Urbina writes. "Some methods can leave behind salts or sludge highly concentrated with radioactive material and other contaminants that can be dangerous to people and aquatic life if they get into waterways," he reports. Some well operators sell their wastewater to communities who spread it on roads for melting ice during the winter and controlling dust during the summer. In Pennsylvania "such waste remains exempt from federal and state oversight, even when turned into salts and spread on roads," Urbina writes.
"No one wants to admit it, but at some point, even with reuse of this water, you have to confront the disposal question," Brent Halldorson, chief operating officer of Aqua-Pure/Fountain Quail Water Management, told Urbina. Halldorson added that he believes in the benefits wastewater recycling brings, including reducing waste produced by fracking, reducing water used and facilitating the shift to cleaner natural gas as a electricity source, but "there still needs to be a candid discussion, and there needs to be accountability about where even the recycled wastewater is going." (Read more)
Even recycled water may not eliminate all the environmental risks associated with fracking, Urbina writes. "Some methods can leave behind salts or sludge highly concentrated with radioactive material and other contaminants that can be dangerous to people and aquatic life if they get into waterways," he reports. Some well operators sell their wastewater to communities who spread it on roads for melting ice during the winter and controlling dust during the summer. In Pennsylvania "such waste remains exempt from federal and state oversight, even when turned into salts and spread on roads," Urbina writes.
"No one wants to admit it, but at some point, even with reuse of this water, you have to confront the disposal question," Brent Halldorson, chief operating officer of Aqua-Pure/Fountain Quail Water Management, told Urbina. Halldorson added that he believes in the benefits wastewater recycling brings, including reducing waste produced by fracking, reducing water used and facilitating the shift to cleaner natural gas as a electricity source, but "there still needs to be a candid discussion, and there needs to be accountability about where even the recycled wastewater is going." (Read more)
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