Fracking Waste: A Radioactive Legacy for New York?

        New York Landfills Import Hazardous Fracking Waste -- TAKE ACTION to Protect Our  Environment and Health

By David Kowalski .

Marcellus Shale contains radioactive materials, including uranium and its decay products, radium and radon. Normally, the radioactive material is safely buried deep underground. However, shale gas drilling and fracking bring radioactivity in solids and liquid wastewater to the surface, posing a risk to the environment and public health if not properly managed.

Radium and radon can cause cancer if ingested or inhaled. Radium causes leukemia and bone cancer. Radon, a gaseous decay product of radium, is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.

In 2009, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) found radium levels in Marcellus Shale wastewater that are thousands of times greater than that allowed in drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency, and up to 267 times the limit for safe discharge into the environment.

Exemption from a key federal regulation allows gas industry solid and liquid waste to pass as “non-hazardous.” However, it is becoming more widely appreciated that the waste can contain radioactive materials, in which case it should be regulated as "hazardous" waste and be managed accordingly.

Drilling and fracking waste in the form of sludge from Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale has triggered radiation alarms at municipal landfills. The sludge contains flowback fluids, frack sand and other fluids. Sludge must contain at least 20% solids according to the DEC, implying that it could contain as much as 80% flowback fluid and other fluids containing soluble radioactive material.

Liquid leachate from landfills is sent to wastewater treatment plants unequipped to monitor or remove radioactive materials, threatening drinking water sources.

Waste from drilling and fracking in Pennsylvania has been imported by 6 New York landfills  (see Map at bottom of page), including one in Niagara Falls that is not permitted to receive radioactive waste.

In West Virginia, tons of waste from Marcellus natural gas wells are going to municipal landfills, and radioactivity is leaching into surface water.

In the first four months of 2014, nine loads of Pennsylvania shale gas drilling waste were rejected by local landfills because of higher-than-normal radioactivity. Some of this radioactive drilling waste was shipped from Pennsylvania to West Virginia landfills that are not required to monitor radioactivity.

The gas industry has not identified methods to safely dispose the hazardous, radioactive waste and is shipping it to municipal landfills. It would be costly for industry to properly dispose the waste at a facility licensed to handle radioactive waste, but this is exactly what must be done to protect the environment and public health.

The industry is also failing to cleanup the hazardous, radioactive material in fracking wastewater. A peer-reviewed scientific paper reported radium levels of 200 times background in Pennsylvania’s Blacklick Creek sediments downstream of a specialized fracking wastewater treatment plant. A large portion of the radioactivity in the fracking wastewater appeared to have been removed before discharge into the waterway, but it is not clear where that radioactive material was disposed.

Avner Vengosh, the Duke University researcher who led the scientific study, said that "once you have a release of fracking fluid into the environment, you end up with a radioactive legacy." Contamination by radium, which has a half-life of 1602 years, will persist in the environment for many thousands of years.

Radioactive materials are present in a variety of gas-bearing formations, not just the Marcellus. Radioactivity can be present in the wastewater not only after high-volume fracking, but also following low-volume fracking, which is currently permitted in New York.

The DEC permits spreading fracking waste called 'brine' (salty wastewater) obtained from low-volume fracking wells and gas storage facilities on roads for de-icing, dust control and road stabilization as well as on land for dust control. Spreading applications of fracking brine have been approved for use in portions of at least 23 municipalities in 7 western New York counties: Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Genessee, Wyoming, and Seneca. Also, the New York State Department of Transportation Region 6 received approval to spread brine from natural gas storage on State roads in portions of Steuben, Allegany, Chemung, Schuyler, and Yates Counties.

Spreading of any fracking wastewater on roads or land should not be permitted without first testing for radioactive materials. If radium and radon are present, aerosols and dust containing radium could be inhaled along with radon gas. Radium in liquid runoff that makes its way into drinking water and fish could be ingested.

Radium and radon in waste from shale gas drilling and fracking pose a serious threat to the environment and public health. Cancers induced by ingestion or inhalation of these radioactive materials can take years to develop.

Regulation of radioactive waste in gas drilling is just as lax now as it was shown to be in investigative reports of 2011. The public should demand that the New York State Legislature pass laws to protect our water, land, air and health from the dire consequences of long-lived radioactive contamination.

NY State Senator Tkaczyk sponsored a common-sense bill to ban transportation of fracking waste from Pennsylvania and elsewhere into New York and ban disposal. However, the bill was defeated in the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee in a straight party-line vote (7 Nays by Republicans to 6 Ayes by Democrats).

A key bill sponsored by Senator Avella (S674), and the 'same as' bill sponsored by Assemblyman Sweeney (A1046), would close the loophole that allows fracking waste to be designated as "non-hazardous," despite the fact that it can be hazardous in ways described above. Fracking waste needs to be monitored. If it contains radioactive or toxic materials, it should be regulated as "hazardous" waste and be stored, transported, and disposed in ways that protect the environment and health. As stated in the bill, "If not treated properly, hazardous waste can, among other concerns, lead to contaminated air, drinking water, soil, and food."

TAKE ACTION: Contact your NY State Senator (Click Here) and Assembly Member (Click Here) and ask them to co-sponsor the bills (S674 and A1046) to protect our environment and health.

Public input is more important than ever given heavy campaign contributions to state legislators from the natural gas industry.

In the absence of New York State laws, the public has little choice but to call for municipal bans on fracking waste in order to protect our environment and health.

An abbreviated version of this article was published in The Buffalo News on May 29, 2014.

Sources of Pennsylvania drilling/fracking waste disposed at 6 New York landfills
Credits: Karen Edelstein, NYS Coordinator for FracTracker Alliance

HydroFracking News Briefs

For Pennsylvania's Doctors, a Gag Order on Fracking Chemicals
A new provision could forbid the state’s doctors from sharing information with patients exposed to toxic fracking solutions.
Under a new law, doctors in Pennsylvania can access information about chemicals used in natural gas extraction—but they won't be able to share it with their patients. A provision buried in a law passed last month is drawing scrutiny from the public health and environmental community, who argue that it will "gag" doctors who want to raise concerns related to oil and gas extraction with the people they treat and the general public.

Possible health risk tied to ‘fracking’ emissions
"Emissions from the wells include methane and volatile organic compounds that react with heat and sunlight to form ozone," according to a health scientist who is studying air quality near gas wells in Texas.
Non-cancer health impacts from air emissions due to natural- gas development is greater for residents living closer to wells,” according to a statement. “We also calculated higher cancer risks for residents living nearer to the wells.” 

New York environmental groups join to form coalition to work for hydrofracking ban
On Monday, a New York State Assembly proposal for an independent health impact study of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas was dropped during budget negotiations. Numerous physicians and environmental groups criticized Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos for blocking the $100,000 Assembly appropriation for a health study. 
Cuomo has said a decision on whether to permit fracking in New York is likely in several months.
Sandra Steingraber, a biologist and environmental writer who recently won the Heinz Award for her work on how chemical contaminants in air, water and food endanger human health, said she'll donate much of her $100,000 prize money to start the anti-fracking coalition, New Yorkers Against Fracking.

Niagara Falls City Council Safeguards Water Supply By Rita Yelda
Prevents Region from Becoming NY's Science Experiment
On March 5th, Niagara Falls went on record against fracking, and against treating wastewater from fracking.  Elected officials said they don't want the city that endured the Love Canal toxic waste crisis to be exposed to the fallout from gas drilling operations. The City Council approved an ordinance prohibiting natural gas extraction in Niagara Falls, as well as the "storage, transfer, treatment or disposal of natural gas exploration and production wastes."
It would have been irresponsible and dangerous for the Niagara Falls Water Board to move forward with this proposal, given all of the unanswered questions relating to our health, safety and environmental concerns.

Water Board won’t sue city on ‘fracking’ issue
The city’s Water Board on Thursday decided not to file a legal challenge against a city law banning treatment of water from hydraulic fracturing at its wastewater treatment plant. But it does not prevent a legal challenge to the law should the state this year set specific guidelines for treatment of the water.

Mark Ruffalo, the Incredible Hunk - Actor and Anti-Fracking Activist
When Bruce Banner gets angry, he turns into the rampaging green superhero known as the Incredible Hulk. The charming 44-year-old actor Mark Ruffalo, who portrays Banner in the upcoming film The Avengers, isn't quite so quick to act out. But his inner Hulk emerges when he talks about hydraulic fracturing, a technology whose advances have triggered a boom of gas drilling and environmental backlash in shale regions—including the part of upstate New York where Ruffalo relocated his family from Los Angeles about three years ago.

Look for Mark Ruffalo on The Colbert Report on Wednesday night at 11:30pm, or on TV re-runs Thursday, or online anytime after that. Ruffalo's group, Water Defense, is part of the NY coalition working for a fracking ban, described above.

Vigil held to protest hydrofracking 
Protesters gathered for a candlelight vigil outside the Buffalo office of Senator Mark Grisanti, chair of the NY State Environmental Conservation Committee. They're hoping to pressure him to support a bill that would ban fracking in NY. Senator Grisanti's office tells WIVB News the senator still has not made up his mind about hydrofracking in NY. 

Gas Industry Spin Can't Cover Up Air Problems Associated with Fracking
At a Wall Street Journal conference last week, Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon told attendees: “I don’t know of any problem with air pollution from fracking in Fort Worth” Texas.  McClendon peevishly referred to air pollution concerns raised by Hudson Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay [whom McClendon refused to share the stage with] as “environmental nonsense.”  Since then, industry-sponsored posts argue against links between fracking and air pollution. Well, read on. Then decide who’s spouting “nonsense”.
 

Niagara Falls Bans Hydrofracking Wastewater Treatment

Treated waste flows into Niagara River - AP

Niagara Falls City Council voted on Monday to ban hydrofracking (a.k.a. fracking) and the treatment of the wastewater in the city. Fracking wastewater treatment has been the major topic of discussion at public meetings of the city's water board over the last several months.

The water board has been interested in accepting hydrofracking wastewater as a way to raise revenues. However, NY State is still in the process of developing gas drilling regulations, and has not put forth a proven plan for successfully cleaning up the wastewater. Such a plan is essential because fracking wastewater contains not only added chemicals, some toxic, but also toxic and radioactive chemicals extracted from the undergound shale. Municipal wastewater treatment has proven to be ineffective in cleaning fracking wastewater in Pennsylvania and is now prohibited. These facts left citizens with strong concerns about chemical pollution and public health, evoking comparisons to the Love Canal tragedy in Niagara Falls. Canadians were also concerned about fracking wastewater treatment, since the Niagara River borders their country and drains into Lake Ontario, which is a source of drinking water for millions of people in Canada.

The Niagara Gazette reported on Monday that the ordinance adopted — patterned after a similar ban imposed by the City of Buffalo and other communities in recent months — describes hydrofracking and the handling of waste from the process as posing a "significant threat" to the "health, safety and welfare" of residents in Niagara Falls. It also suggests that any involvement in the process within city limits could cause "irreparable harm" to the city’s water supply and may cause significant health problems for city residents. 

“The subject of hydrofracking is something that is going to effect everyone in our community,” said Councilman Glenn Choolokian, an employee of the city’s water board who pushed for the anti-fracking measures. “This dangerous process must be addressed now. It can’t be talked about in secret meetings anymore. If hydrofracking is such a great thing, let some other city be the test case.”

The Council also passed a resolution telling NY Gov. Cuomo that fracking should be banned in NY, like the statewide ban in Buffalo.

“I hope the governor gets the big picture here and bans it statewide,” said Council Chairman Sam Fruscione, who is expecting the council’s letter to be delivered to Cuomo within the next few days.

The language of the ordinance is similar to that used by two other NY towns whose local bans were challenged by the gas industry but were upheld by two different NY Supreme Court Justices.

“I’m sure we will be sued, but our job is to serve the city,” Fruscione said. “We’ll see what happens,” added Choolokian. “I feel very confident with the help we had on this.”

“Tonight, together, we draw the line in the sand against an industry and the state that desires to ruin this community,” said Roger Spurback, president of the Niagara Falls Block Club Council. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. A tip of our hats for your response.”

Also see the WGRZ TV News coverage and watch a video report here.