Niagara Falls Plans to Treat Wastewater from Shale-Gas Drilling

A Public Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 22

In July, the Niagara Falls Water Board was reported to be exploring the possibility of treating wastewater containing toxic chemicals resulting from unconventional shale-gas drilling, known as horizontal, hydraulic fracturing or simply fracking. Water from the treatment plant would be released into the Niagara River which flows into Lake Ontario and provides a source of drinking water. A new report issued last week indicated that an outside firm has completed a feasibility study and that the Water Board is moving forward with the plan to treat fracking wastewater.

The Buffalo Avenue treatment plant was built over 30 years ago to clean up wastewater from chemical industries in the city of Niagara Falls and it benefited the region by generated millions of dollars income annually. The Executive Director of the Water Board, Paul Drof, said "Until the state finalizes their guidelines on the treatment of fracking waste, we can't say for sure even if we can do it." He added, "Frankly, we have a responsibility to our rate payers to at least look at this as a possibility."

However, Walter Hang, Ph.D., an expert in wastewater management and head of Toxics Targeting Inc., has studied the Niagara Falls plant and believes that it can not handle fracking wastewater. Hang said "The wastewaters generated by the chemical manufacturing facilities in Niagara Falls are vastly different from the gas-drilling wastewater that could be generated by horizontal hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale."

Dr. Hang does not stand alone in his criticism of the concept. Over fifty scientists signed a letter warning NY Gov. Cuomo that it would be impossible for municipal systems to practically protect against chemicals used in fracking and others in the wastewater. The scientists indicated that municipal systems were not designed to filter the toxic chemicals, biocides and radioactive compounds, and that some of these would pass through the systems and enter water supplies.

Local environmentalists expressed concern about the Niagara Falls plan. Rita Yelda, organizer of WNY Drilling Defense, said "If this fracking waste is not treated correctly, it could contaminate our water. It's a potential risk."  Brian Smith, with the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said "The Niagara Falls sewage treatment facility is ill equipped to properly treat hazardous fracking waste. Allowing this would risk the discharge of toxic, radioactive, and caustic waste into our fragile Great Lakes ecosystem."

The Niagara Falls Water Board will hold a public meeting on Thursday, September 22 at 5pm in the Water Treatment Plant, 5815 Buffalo Ave, Niagara Falls, NY [MAP]. Concerned citizens are encouraged to attend. Those who wish to speak should sign up before the meeting.

Radioactive Fracking Waste Threatens Drinking Water

In 2009, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation analyzed 13 samples of fracking wastewater from gas drilling sites in the Marcellus Shale and found levels of radium, a radioactive element, as high as 267 times the limit safe for discharge into the environment and thousands of times the limit safe for people to drink.

While New York is currently under a drilling moratorium, Pennsylvania has had a gas drilling boom over the last few years and there is much that can be learned from data on radioactivity in fracking wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling in that state.

The NY Times reviewed 30,000 pages of records on drilling in more than 200 Pennsylvania gas wells over the last 3 years. The records were obtained from federal, state and industry sources.

The review revealed that levels of radium, uranium or other radioactive elements in 116 gas wells were 100 times higher than federal drinking water standards, and in 15 wells, 1000 times higher (see Map). The findings confirm and extend those made from radioactivity data from the limited testing done in New York.

Pennsylvania Map. Brown circles reflect radioactivity levels above the federal standard in fracking wastewater at gas wells, and larger circles indicate higher radioactivity (Gross Alpha). Blue lines are major rivers.
Sewage treatment plants in three states, including New York, accepted Pennsylvania fracking wastewater, despite the fact that the plants were not equipped to monitor and remove radioactivity. As a result, treated water of questionable quality was discharged into waterways and taken up into downstream plants that provide drinking water. The downstream plants were also not equipped to monitor and remove radioactivity.
The finding that fracking wastewater contains high levels of radioactivity that may be entering the drinking water raises serious concern about the effects on public health. Where tested, much of the radioactivity is from radium, which can cause cancer when ingested by drinking water or by eating fish or farm produce that is contaminated.
In 2009, the radioactivity risks prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to advise New York that sewage treatment plants should not accept drilling waste with radium levels that are 12 or more times the federal standard for drinking water. Also, they should not discharge water with radioactivity higher than the standard.

Testing for radioactivity in drinking water is required by federal law only at drinking-water intake plants. Unfortunately, it is not done often enough to keep pace with the rapidly growing discharges of drilling wastewater. In fact, most drinking water plants in Pennsylvania had not tested for radioactivity since at least 2005, before the gas drilling boom occurred there.
Following the recent NY Times report about high levels of radium, the EPA took action to inform Pennsylvania in a letter dated March 7, 2011 indicating that it is critical to investigate the presence of radioactive elements, and to inform the public as to whether, and at what levels, they occur in their water supply. Within 30 days, EPA wants a sampling plan to be developed and initial samples collected. The EPA said that such knowledge will be the basis for imposing the controls necessary to ensure that public health and the aquatic environment are protected.

The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has recently stated that radium in rivers is negligible, although critics indicate that the DEP can’t guarantee people will not be exposed to radioactive drinking water unless DEP is sampling everywhere all the time.

A fracking ban or at least a hazardous waste designation on fracking wastewater would protect our drinking water from contamination by radioactive elements and toxic chemicals released from shale, and additional toxics added to fracking fluid.
Links to Sources:
- NY Times: Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers - NY Times: Pennsylvania Map - US EPA: Letter from EPA (PDF)
- ProPublica: Is New York’s Marcellus Shale Too Hot to Handle?
- Pennsylvania DEP: Radium in rivers is negligible- Buffalo News: Faulty figure on ‘fracking’ recycling linked to National Fuel subsidiary

Fracking Wastewater is Radioactive and Hazardous

Concerned citizens are calling on Gov. Cuomo to designate as hazardous waste the gas-drilling wastewater from shale fracking. A hazardous waste designation would protect our drinking water from contamination by toxic chemicals and radioactive elements released from shale, and additional toxics added to fracking fluid. To raise awareness, a protest by Frack Action Buffalo and supporters was held on Monday outside the offices of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which is responsible for enforcing environmental laws and regulations in NY.

Fracking wastewater has been disposed at the Buffalo Sewer Authority, which like other treatment facilities is not equipped to remove radioactivity and toxic fracking chemicals. As a result, questionable-quality water was discharged into the Niagara River, posing threats to drinking water, public health and the environment.

The Buffalo Sewer Authority is no longer accepting fracking wastewater as a result of investigative reports, citizen action and a ban of wastewater disposal and transportation in Buffalo approved by the Common Council. However, no other city in NY has such a ban, raising an immediate need to protect our drinking water through means such as a state-wide designation of fracking wastewater as hazardous waste that can not be disposed of by ordinary means.

The presence of high-level radioactivity in fracking wastewater and the lax regulation of wastewater disposal were highlighted recently in a comprehensive exposé published in the New York Times. Based on investigation of thousands of internal documents obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state regulators and gas drillers, the Times concluded that "the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood."

Radioactivity in fracking wastewater was found to be at levels higher than ever known, and unsafe for sewage treatment plants to process. Previously unreported studies by both the EPA and the drilling industry concluded that radioactivity in the wastewater can not be fully diluted in waterways. Furthermore, sewage treatment plants that accept drilling water are allowed by regulators not to test for radioactivity, as are the plants downstream that intake water for drinking.

If radioactivity is not tested, how can government regulators and the gas industry ensure that the drinking water is safe? The bottom line is that they can't.
To take action to protect your drinking water, urge NY Gov. Cuomo to designate fracking wastewater as hazardous waste. You can endorse a petition here.
PHOTOS: Fracking Wastewater Protest in Buffalo at the DEC

Buffalo News Article: Hydrofracking demonstrators call for Cuomo, DEC to act

UPDATE, March 9, 2011:WBFO NEWS report: Frack Action calls for hazardous classification of hydrofracking waste

[Photo by Morgan Jamie Dunbar; click to enlarge]

Public Hearing: Buffalo Water Quality

Senator Antoine Thompson, as chair of the NYS Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, will be holding hearings throughout NY State on Water Quality.

The Buffalo hearing will be:

• Tuesday, September 29, 2009  from 11 am to 3 pm
• Erie County Historical Society, 25 Nottingham Terrace [ Map ]
• Buffalo, New York 14216 

Please plan on attending this hearing, which will be crucial in helping the Senator shape water quality legislation for New York State. For more details, read the Flyer here. 

SAVE THE DATE - We also want you to know that Senator Thompson will be holding hearings on Wetlands Regulation on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 11 am-3 pm, at the Buffalo Science Museum, 1020 Humboldt Parkway