posted by Katherine Nadeau, Water & Natural Resources Program Director

According to Environmental Advocates of New York’s new report, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has failed to responsibly monitor the transport, treatment, or disposal of waste from the state’s active gas wells. Our report looks at how wastes from existing gas drilling operations are disposed in an effort to shed light on how public health and the environment may be affected by the anticipated influx of waste from gas drilling by means of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” As of 2009, the state was home to 6,628 gas wells, and about 90 percent of these wells use low-volume fracking. The report also notes that the state’s proposed oversight of high-volume fracking would create a two-tier regulatory system, even though all fracking waste poses a threat to the safety of New York’s waters and communities.

Here’s what we uncovered: New York isn’t safely monitoring the transport, treatment, or disposal of gas drilling waste, and following the waste stream from well to ultimate disposal is nearly impossible. And based on the proposals under review, the state isn’t ready to oversee the millions of gallons of wastewater high-volume fracking will dump on our doorstep, if Governor Cuomo decides to permit it. Environmental Advocates is calling on the Governor to close the hazardous waste loophole for drilling waste, require that new measures to protect New York from high-volume fracking apply to all fracking operations, prohibit sewage plants from accepting drilling waste, and ban road spreading. 

The report is based on the review of nearly 100 DEC permit documents for the state’s operating gas wells and describes the flawed process for permitting drilling operations; the makeup of fracking wastewater and its environmental hazards; and a discussion of the likely ways fracking wastewater is disposed of today.

Under state law, the DEC asks drillers two questions during the application process regarding waste disposal:

1.    How will drilling fluids and stimulation fluids be contained and disposed of?
2.    If brine will be stored onsite, how will it be stored and disposed of?

Environmental Advocates’ review of drillers’ responses shows cause for alarm. In at least 16 cases, drillers failed to identify where waste was hauled or disposed of. On no fewer than 25 forms, gas companies stated that wastes were disposed of at “approved facilities” without identifying the facilities; in nine cases, drillers said waste was disposed of per DEC regulations without specifying what this means. In addition, some applications identified multiple disposal options leading to further ambiguities.  

Fracking wastewater hazards include toxic chemicals used in fracking fluids, the exact composition of which are considered trade secrets known only to the gas industry. In addition, fracking wastewater can be up to six times as salty as seawater depending on the rock formation drilled and the amount of time water spends in the well. Fracking may also bring naturally occurring radioactive materials to the surface in drilling wastes. 

Both low- and high-volume fracking wastes are exempt from treatment as hazardous wastes, although if produced by any other industry, Marcellus Shale fracking wastes would likely be classified and treated as hazardous based on barium levels alone.

Although Governor Cuomo and the DEC have proposed requiring the gas industry to submit drilling waste disposal plans for high-volume fracking, these requirements fall short of the publicly available cradle-to-the-grave tracking, handling, and disposal measures required for other hazardous wastes.

The New York State Assembly has already acted to close the fracking loophole by passing legislation earlier this year. We’re now calling on state senators to do the same and end this blanket exemption for the gas industry.