There are 34 states where oil and gas wells are being tapped through hydraulic fracturing- aka fracking – with little oversight, according to environmentalists.
The United States has cut a deal with a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, XTO Energy, to prevent wastewater spills from natural gas exploration and production. The plea bargain obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency results from the discharge of wastewater from XTO’s Penn Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania facility used for the storage of wastewater generated by fracking.
The federal settlement requires that XTO pay a penalty of $100,000 to the United States and spend a federal government-estimated $20 million on a plan to improve wastewater management practices to recycle, properly dispose of, and prevent spills of wastewater generated from natural gas exploration and production activities in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Untreated discharges of wastewaters from natural gas exploration and production typically contain high levels of total dissolved solids and other pollutants and can adversely affect fresh water aquatic life and drinking water quality.
XTO must install a continuous, remote monitoring system for all of its permanent production located throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia with alarms that would be triggered to alert operators immediately in the event of any future spills and implement a program to monitor interconnected wastewater storage tanks located throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The discharge was discovered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) during an inspection of the Penn Township facility, where a PADEP inspector observed wastewater spilling from an open valve from a series of interconnected tanks. At the time, XTO stored wastewater generated from energy extraction activities conducted throughout Pennsylvania at its Penn Township facility and, at the time of the release, stored produced fluid from its operations in the area.
Pollutants from the release were found in a tributary of the Susquehanna River basin. EPA, in consultation with PADEP, conducted an investigation and determined that wastewater stored in the tanks at the Penn Township facility contained the same variety of pollutants, including chlorides, barium, strontium, and total dissolved solids, that were observed in those surface waters.
“Today’s settlement holds XTO accountable for a previous violation of the Clean Water Act and requires operational changes and improved management practices to help ensure the safe and responsible handling of wastewater produced during natural gas exploration and production activities,” said Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Under the settlement with the United States, the substantial improvements to XTO’s wastewater management are estimated by the federal government to reduce discharges of total dissolved solids by 264 million pounds over the course of the next three years.
The reductions will occur in large part because XTO will increase wastewater recycling and will properly dispose of wastewaters generated by its natural gas activities across the mid-Atlantic region. In addition, XTO will implement a region-wide program of operational best management practices that include:
- secondary containment for tanks used to store wastewater,
- improved standard operating procedures designed to reduce the risk of a spill,
- a prohibition on using pits or open-top tanks to store wastewater, which will prevent air emissions,
- remote monitoring of tank volumes to prevent overfilling and spills,
- signs on all tanks with safety information,
- a manned, 24-hour emergency phone number.
The consent decree, lodged in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and almost certain court approval given the DOJ’s laughably lenient treatment of corporate criminals. The consent decree is available for review at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html
