Freshwater Impoundment Leaked Flowback
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Orange paint marks holes in the impoundment liner. EQT estimates there are 75-100 holes present.
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Examination of DEP files on Phoenix Pad S wells, impoundments, leaks and seeps in Duncan Township in Tioga County revealed that on June 9th well operator EQT informed the PA DEP that on freshwater impoundment 2, "visual inspection of the liner yesterday evening (6.8.12) identified the presence of holes towards the bottom of the pit...".
A follow up inspection by DEP on June 11th, found, " Numerous holes were observed in the liner. A representative from EQT stated it was believed there were approximately 75 -100 holes identified to date".
RDA reported the leaking impoundment and contamination of the stream Rock Run in our June 15th newsletter including a very terse summary of the situation issued by DEP on that day:
The department has been investigating a leaking flowback impoundment at EQT's Phoenix Resources site for several weeks. The impoundment has been emptied and EQT and the department are investigating the cause. Several seeps with elevated conductivity have been identified in the area surrounding the impoundment. Slightly elevated conductivity also was detected downstream in Rock Run. Water samples were collected but we have not yet received the results.
EQT previously submitted a centralized impoundment permit application to the department, which required the installation and sampling of monitoring wells. Sample results from a couple of these wells indicated elevated chlorides in the ground water.
Records in the file reveal that DEP first found an above fluid level hole in the liner on December 20, 2011. Also revealed at that time, the impoundment, shown as a 6 million gallon freshwater impoundment in EQT's E &S plan, was being filled with flowback from another EQT well pad.
Why the DEP allows flowback to be placed in impoundments designed for "freshwater" is an issue that needs to be addressed. The files reveal much planning, site preparation and quality control goes into the building of a centralized impoundment designed to hold flowback. Why are lesser engineered and unmonitored "freshwater" impoundments, not only just that? The Phoenix Pad S case should be enough to stop that horrible practice. Due the incredible amount of holes in the liner, the amazing compromise of liner integrity, why should DEP allow even centralized impoundments to hold flowback? What is the point? Why not "best practices" like storage tanks for flowback as many well operators insist they only use?
Why does DEP, and we are talking about at the Harrisburg office level, insist on downplaying and keeping the facts of problem situations out of the public eye? Why do the economic theories of the Corbett administration and DEP Secretary Krancer take precedence over environmental protection?
Read more disgusting detail of the Phoenix S pad "freshwater" impoundment situation in excerpts from DEP files posted here:
Access full story here.
The Responsible Drilling Alliance would like to remind EQT, Waste Management, DEP and the EPA that impoundment liners that held flowback are not exempt from federal hazardous waste disposal laws. Unlike the toxic contents of those impoundments, used impoundment liners are considered hazardous waste by EPA and must be disposed of at appropriate facilities. |
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Renowned Scientist Travels To Williamsport
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Join RDA Bus To DC For National Day Of Action
 Stop The Frack Attack is a nationwide coalition of citizens, communities and organizations meeting in DC to declare the time is now to use our collective power to end oil and gas development practices that harm public health, water and air quality, and the climate."We need to stop the pain and destruction," said impacted landowner and former oil and gas worker Sharon Wilson. "Americans are being sacrificed everyday, losing their American Dreams, their health and their well being. Communities are divided and our children's future is slipping away because we are addicted to dirty fossil fuels. I am asking you to join me on 7.28.12 in DC." Read Sharon Wilson's story here.The Responsible Drilling Alliance would like to charter an air-conditioned, bathroom-equipped bus from Williamsport to Washington, DC on July 28, 2012 for Stop The Frack Attack. The bus would leave Wegman's in downtown Williamsport at approximately 5 am and return around 1am. Tickets would be $40. If interested in reserving a seat, please e-mail myers@uchicago.edu.
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New 'Moratorium' Law Favors Wealthier Counties
 | | Photo Courtesy Terry Wild |
PHILADELPHIA-
As the dust settles on the budget debate in Harrisburg, concern continues to rise across the Commonwealth over language inserted into the state budget that intends to give Bucks and Montgomery county residents some sort of moratorium from gas drilling while continuing to leave the rest of state's county officials hamstrung when it comes to regulating gas drilling in their communities.
Opponents cried foul at the inequity this provision creates in the Commonwealth, affording residents in two southeastern Pennsylvania counties to have moratorium language, while in the rest of the state local communities have no control over controversial gas drilling and the effects of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking." "Where was our study? Where was our six years?" asked state Rep. Jesse White, who represents communities in the heart of drilling country in southwestern Pennsylvania. "What makes Bucks and Montgomery [counties] so special?" Continue reading...
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An 'Emergency' Short Film by Josh Fox
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