Washington County Landfill Wants Marcellus Shale Waste
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
19 July 2011
By David Templeton,
An industrial landfill in Washington County that already disposes
of solid waste from Marcellus Shale drilling companies is seeking
permission to accept semi-solid waste from Marcellus Shale
drilling sites to process and dispose of at its site in the
village of Bulger.
During a public meeting Monday at Smith Township, a group of
Bulger residents raised concerns about the facility formerly known
as Mill Services and raised objections over smells and dust that
emanated from the site. They also raised concern about the impact
of additional dumping in the region on their residential water
wells.
MAX Environmental Technologies Inc., which operates a similar
landfill in Yukon, Westmoreland County, applied to the state
Department of Environmental Protection for a permit April 20 to
process Marcellus Shale waste, mostly drill cuttings and muds, for
disposal on its Bulger property.
The company proposes to mix the waste with coal ash, soil, sawdust
or other absorbent materials to stabilize the low volume of fluids
in the waste before using the solid residual waste to build a dome
over two impoundments that eventually must be capped with a
synthetic liner, covered with two feet of soil then planted with
vegetation to comply with a consent order to remedy the
long-standing waste site.
The goal is to create gradients to allow rain water to flow off
the domed site rather than percolate through the waste, become
contaminated and reach groundwater.
Eric Chiardo of the Civil & Environmental Consultants, which
prepared the MAX permit application, said the company would accept
no more than 40 trucks per day and 900 total tons of waste that
would then be solidified at the site to turn the semi-solid waste
into dry material that would be suitable as fill material.
He said the company would not accept fracking fluids, the
chemical-laden liquid that drilling companies use and many now
recycle. Those fluids are used to break up rock deep underground
to release natural gas. For now, MAX accepts solid waste from the
well drillers. The permit seeks approval to accept the raw waste
and process it on site.
The company said it will hire four people, if the permit
application is approved. Before it will accept waste from any well
site, it must first undergo analysis to determine its content then
the DEP would be required to approve it.
L. William Spencer, MAX president, said the company needs 800,000
to a million tons of fill to complete two sites, one of which is
25 acres and the other that is about five acres.
DEP officials said the permit is under review. The meeting was
held to answer questions and concerns that township residents
might have with the project.
"Twenty to 40 truck totals per day is ridiculous," said Bernie
Slay who lives in Bulger. "We have winding roads, and the noise is
terrible -- and the dust. I reject it. This community is too small
to take that amount of waste."
David Templeton: dtempleton@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1578.