Clarksburg Suspends Treatment of Marcellus Brine, Seeks Testing
The Statre Journal
14 August 2009
By Pam Kasey
The Clarksburg Sanitary Board has stopped accepting Marcellus Shale gas
well drilling brine until Energy Contractors LLC of Bridgeport provides
extensive testing of the wastewater.
The move comes in response to a July 23 letter from the West Virginia
Department of Environmental Protection establishing a long list of
pollutants of concern in oil and gas-related wastewaters.
"The wastewaters from these types of operations contain high levels of
chloride, dissolved solid, sulfate and other pollutants," the letter
reads. "(Publicly owned treatment works) provide little to no treatment
of these pollutants and could potentially lead to water quality issues
in the receiving stream."
The DEP listed more than 40 pollutants of concern, including several
forms of radiation.
"Those are parameters that they suspect or anticipate are in Marcellus
water, and they want to make sure the levels that are in there are at
concentrations that we can deal with -- or show that they're at levels
we can't deal with," said plant Superintendent Bill Goodwin.
The Clarksburg wastewater treatment plant has been accepting about
37,000 gallons per day of gas well drilling brine from Energy
Contractors in a trial that began last fall, according to Goodwin.
After receiving the DEP letter, the sanitary board elected to stop
taking the brine until Energy Contractors has the water tested, Goodwin
said. Laboratory analysis for all of the pollutants of concern would
cost the company about $1,000, he said.
Energy Contractors did not return a call for this story.
If the company does the tests and the sanitary board decides to take
steps to accept the brine, the DEP is requiring the board to write
appropriate local limits into the city's sewer use ordinance and to
issue an industrial pretreatment permit to Energy Contractors.
That permit likely would include a monthly or biweekly sampling regime,
Goodwin said.
Accepting 37,000 gallons per day brings in $200,000 to $300,000 a year
for the treatment plant, Goodwin said, a significant part of the annual
budget.